At the End of the Day
by Soozen
Summary: Haruhi is forced to start wearing a girl's uniform in school, Tamaki and Haruhi start dating, and the Newspaper Club is back in action to destroy Tamaki. How will the Host Club react to all of this? Tama/Haruhi, ?/Haruhi
1. And There'll Be Trouble For All pt 1

"At the end of the day she'll be nothing but trouble  
And there's trouble for all if there's trouble for one…."  
-_At the End of the Day_ from Les Miserables

* * *

Haruhi was inside the principal's office, sitting quietly and patiently for Principal Uotani to end a call he was on. She'd been called down to the office several minutes ago, and was really just very curious as to why she would be needed. She hadn't been acting up in class at all, so it certainly couldn't be for that (and, anyway, students with behavioral issues were sent to the guidance office, not the principal's), she had been keeping her grades at straight A's, so her scholarship would still be in tact. The reason for her being called down wouldn't be for something bad, and so, she really wanted to know what the reason was. Maybe…maybe she had been doing so well in her studies that they were considering her for some other benefit; what other sort of benefit, Haruhi wasn't sure, but something….maybe.

At last, Principal Uotani hung up the phone, and sat back, looking at Haruhi for a moment. Then, seeming to remember why she was down here, he flipped open a manila folder that was sitting in front of him. "Haruhi Fukioka?" he said.

Haruhi nodded, sure that he was simply making sure that was whom he was talking to.

"Do you know why I've called you to my office?"

"No," Haruhi said honestly, shaking her head.

"Miss Fujioka, I am sure you are aware that we have a specific dress code. When you began attending classes here, you were forgiven for your lack of uniform due to your financial situation. However, now that you seem to have acquired one, we simply can't turn our heads away from your blatant display of lack of respect towards our school's policy."

Haruhi's brow furrowed. "I-I'm sorry, but I don't understand." She looked down at herself. "I'm wearing the school's uniform-"

"You are, in fact, a girl, Miss Fujioka?"

Haruhi nodded, and suddenly understood, without having to hear the principal's explination.

"I am not entirely certain of the policies of your last school, but here at Ouran Academy, the boys are required to wear a boy's uniform, and the girls must wear the girl's uniform. While you are wearing a uniform, it is not the correct uniform. And so, starting tomorrow, you must wear the proper uniform for you. The secretary just outside my office has one for you in your size; simply return the one you are wearing- dry-cleaned, of course- as soon as you can."

"Um…." Haruhi's mind was buzzing, attempting to take in the information while simultaneously realizing what her wearing a girl's uniform in school would do to the Host Club. The rest of the school was still under the impression that she was a boy, and while it really didn't matter to her on a personal level what the school population thought of her, but this couldn't- and wouldn't go over well with the Host Club. She still had the debt to pay off….

"Principal Uotani," Haruhi said slowly, "I understand that I…should be wearing the girl's uniform, but I was hoping that I could, possibly, continue wearing this one. I am part of the Host Club, and I have a debt to it, and I need to wear this uniform to pay it off."

"The Host Club?" Principal Uotani repeated. "The club started by Suou…. Tamaki Suou?"

Haruhi nodded. Maybe, since Tamaki was the superintendent's son, it would help….

"While I can't imagine why you'd have to wear that uniform, you may keep it, if you pay for it, and of course you'd only be wearing it after school hours."

"But-"

"Miss Fujioka, there is no reason for you to wear a boy's uniform during class. You will wear the correct uniform, or risk the consequences," Principal Uotani said firmly.

Haruhi nodded, defeated. This would not be good, not at all….

* * *

The second Haruhi had the chance, she went in search of Kyouya. She had considered telling Hikaru and Kaoru when she'd returned to class, but what could they do? They'd most likely just poke fun, and that would be absolutely pointless. Honey and Mori couldn't do anything helpful, and Tamaki would most likely make a scene, which Haruhi didn't really feel like dealing with. No, the most logical thing to do would be to talk to Kyouya.

During the second study hall of the day (really, Haruhi couldn't understand why more than one study hall was needed; but, as Tamaki- or was it Kyouya?- had once explained to her, things here were handled to keep the students happy first, and teach them secondly), Haruhi went to the library in the math wing. Kyouya would most likely be there; like herself, Kyouya preferred silence while studying, and that particular library was very rarely ventured to.

She'd guessed right; within a moment of wandering around the first floor of the library, she found Kyouya seated at a table, taking notes quickly from one of his textbooks.

"Kyouya," she said quickly when she reached the table, not giving him time to respond with a greeting. "We have a problem."

"Hmm?" Kyouya grunted, glancing up at her. "Is this a problem with Tamaki? If so, tell him I have schoolwork to do, seeing as that is much more important."

"No; it has to do with the Host Club. I…. I might not be able to continue-"

"-even though you have only paid off half of your debt?"

Haruhi shot Kyouya a look, one he didn't catch, as he was still staring down at this book. "I have to start wearing a girl's uniform."

That got his immediate attention. His pen stopped moving, and, after a second, he placed it down on his notebook. Looking up at her, he said, "Explain."

Haruhi let out a sigh, and sat down next to him. "The principal called me down to his office to tell me I have to wear a girl's uniform, starting tomorrow, or else I 'risk the consequences.'"

Kyouya was silent for a moment. If he was worried, he didn't show it on his face. "I'll inform Tamaki. We will figure something out," he said simply. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have schoolwork to return to." With that, her turned back to his textbook, and began taking notes once more.

Haruhi stood up, sighing again. She hoped that he did, in fact, think of something.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this!

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	2. And There'll Be Trouble For All pt 2

Haruhi stood in front of the third music room, reading a sign that had been taped to the doors.

_The Host Club has been cancelled for the day.  
__We apologize for any inconveniences, and would like to encourage our guests to visit our website, where the latest edition of our doujinshi and magazines have been made available to order._

There was no doubt in her mind that it had been Kyouya who'd written that note; who else would not so subtly attempt to make a profit through the Host Club, even while it wasn't in session?

Haruhi sighed, and opened the doors. She knew everyone would be in there now, even if the club was closed; they obviously would be brainstorming some absurd idea to keep her dressed in the boy's uniform.

As she'd figured, Mori and Honey were steadily eating cake at one of the tables (or rather, Honey was, while Mori just sat with him), while Tamaki was on the other side of the room, talking frantically into his cell phone while Kyouya stood by, taking notes. She was about to wonder where Hikaru and Kaoru were when, as if right on cue, twin arms hooked themselves around her shoulders from either side.

"Haruhi, you have to start wearing a girl's uniform?" Hikaru asked.

"And you didn't tell us?" Kaoru finished.

"There'd have been no point; you couldn't have done anything about it, and I thought it was more important to tell someone who could," Haruhi said with a slight shrug. "What's going on?"

"Oh, Tamaki decided to call his father to intervene," Kaoru said, "but…"

"It doesn't look like things are going too well with his request," Hikaru said with a slight sigh, stepping away from her; Kaoru did the same.

That was true; Tamaki didn't look particularly happy with the person on the other end of the line, and he was jumping about, waving his arms as he spoke quickly and almost rashly. Haruhi could only make out bits and pieces of what he was saying; something about "daughter" and that the host club needed a "natural type."

Eventually, Tamaki closed his cell phone, and collapsed on a sofa with a highly dramatic sigh, an arm draped over his face. "Mommy?" he said softly, without removing his arm to look at Kyouya.

"Yes?" Kyouya didn't look up from his steady note-taking.

"He wouldn't let Haruhi wear a boys uniform."

Haruhi wasn't surprised. She didn't think anyone would give her leeway on that; there really wasn't a good reason, scholastically, for her to continue wearing the uniform the Host Club had given her.

Kyouya snapped his notebook shut. "Well then, it's obvious what needs to be done."

Obvious? What was obvious, Haruhi wanted to know. Apparently, she wasn't the only one.

"Ne? What's so obvious?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked simultaneously.

"Haruhi will have to revert back to being the Host Club's dog," Kyouya said simply, with a slight shrug. Tamaki jolted upright at this statement, his jaw dropping. Kyouya ignored him. "There isn't any other option. She has a debt to pay off, and she can't continue hosting if the student body knows she is a girl. So, she'll pay it off by doing chores and such."

"Haruhi can't do that!" Tamaki cried out.

"She has to; there isn't any other way of going about it."

"Really, it's all right," Haruhi said, hoping to calm Tamaki down. She didn't really feel like dealing with Tamaki's theatrics. "I don't mind running errands." _It'll just take a lot longer to pay off this stupid debt. _

"It is not all right!" Tamaki said forcefully. "Haruhi simply cannot be the dog again!"

"And what would you suggest we do instead?" Kyouya said, obviously beginning to get irritated.

Tamaki was quiet for a moment, then snapped his fingers, a look of determination coming over his face. Haruhi was sure she wasn't going to like his idea.

Leaping to his feet, Tamaki said, "Haruhi will continue hosting- but as a girl!"

There was a moment of silence, in which, Haruhi was sure, that everyone was trying to figure out exactly how that would work.

Tamaki continued, "The Host Club will now be open to both male and female guests; we shall continue to cater to the needs of the ladies, and Haruhi will talk with the boys. It'll work perfectly! She will be able to pay off her debt without being reduced to a dog!"

That actually seemed like a great idea to Haruhi. She really didn't feel like have this debt over her head longer than necessary, and it really did seem like a good solution to the problem. However, she apparently was the only one who thought that way.

"No," Kyouya said flatly, staring at Tamaki as though he were an idiot.

"But- it is the best way! I-I have decided upon this, and this is the way it will be!" Tamaki said.

"Hmmm……" This came from either side of Haruhi; obviously the twins were planning something. Two pairs of arms wrapped around her; one around her waist, another around her shoulders.

"Maybe…we'll quit the Host Club…." Kaoru said.

"And just designate Haruhi all the time," Hikaru finished.

Haruhi just sighed. She didn't understand the point of whatever it was they were doing. But, they were squeezing her a tad too tightly. She fidgeted slightly, and looked up, hoping to catch the gaze of Mori. He was very good at getting her out of these situations. Instead, she saw Tamaki's face turning red, his eyes bulging.

"You-you wouldn't!" Tamaki finally sputtered out.

"Even if they didn't, others would," Kyouya said, taking notes once more. "Others just like them."

There was a moment of silence. Tamaki appeared to be taking in what Kyouya had said. Haruhi fidgeted again, and quietly asked Hikaru and Kaoru to let go of her. Thankfully, they obliged.

Tamaki appeared to have reached a decision. "Haruhi cannot host to boys," he said, very firmly.

Haruhi sighed. She hadn't really wanted to be back to running errands and doing chores for the Host Club, but there was no avoiding it now.

"Now that that's settled, let's continue on with what needs to be done." Kyouya flipped a page back in his notebook. "Tamaki will have to make an announcement regarding this situation at the beginning of the club meeting tomorrow. It would be best to address this with complete honesty, instead of pretending to be unaware of Haruhi's gender. That would only cause more rumors and bad publicity…."

Haruhi sat down as Kyouya continued on with tomorrow's plan. Tomorrow was certainly going to be a rough day.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this second chapter!

Please read and review!


	3. And There'll Be Trouble For All pt 3

Haruhi was beyond relieved when classes had ended, and she was able to retreat to the third music room to change. Today had been a day from hell.

Well, it wasn't all that awful. Just irritating. Very, very irritating.

The dress itself had put herself fin a bad mood- never mind all the questions she was going to get from wearing it. She didn't like frilly things, and this was exactly the type of clothing she'd never choose to wear. The collar was a touch tight, as were the sleeves; the fabric was just very binding. She supposed this was how girls usually liked to dress, so that their figure or whatever could be shown off. Haruhi, however, really didn't care for it. At all.

Then there had been all the looks she'd gotten; at first, it seemed that no one recognized her, that is, until she sat down at her desk. Her teachers didn't seem to surprised. However, everyone else was.

"Haruhi, is that you?" one girl, Rara, had asked quietly during a study period. She was one of the girls that usually designated Haruhi.

"Yes," Haruhi had replied, smiling as best as she could. She didn't know what else to say, really. She did notice Hikaru and Kaoru tuning in on either side of her.

"Is there something special going on with the Host Club?" Rara asked, brow furrowed.

"Not that I'm aware of."

"But…." She seemed hesitant to go on. "Then why are you dressed in the girl's uniform?"

Haruhi wasn't entirely sure of what to say; how could she explain this simply?

"It's a very funny story," Hikaru said, , leaning closer to Rara. "Tamaki mistook her for a boy when he allowed her to join in the Host Club. When he did find out, Haruhi was such a hit with all you girls that he decided to let her stay."

"After all, the point of the Host Club is for you to just enjoy yourself," Koaru finished.

The poor girl seemed to be in complete shock; he eyes were wide, her mouth opened slightly. "You-you're a girl?!"

She hadn't said it quietly; oh no, it had come out rather loud, so that the entire class had turned to look at them. Haruhi felt her cheeks get hot; they were probably bright red.

After that, the questions didn't stop; not once all day.

So, for her to find just a few minutes of silence while she changed from that ridiculous dress into a t-shirt and cargo shorts. She didn't want to get coffee stains on her uniform, and she'd be more comfortable in every day clothes anyway. Haruhi wasn't particularly excited to run errands once more, but at least she'd be paying off her debt.

* * *

Akira Komatsuzawa was having a field day.

It was the best news he'd heard in a long time- the best real news, at least. No one had been able to stop talking about it all day, and for once, he had something on the Host Club.

_One of the hosts was a girl_.

He had laughed so loudly when he'd heard. Not just at the ridiculousness of the story, but that he finally had something on Tamaki Suou. The club president had to have known what he was doing when he had brought Haruhi- a girl!- into the club; he was being sneaky, going behind his customer's backs, being deceitful.

Oh, it was just too good to be true.

He had a plan; surely, the gossip that surrounded the Host Club wouldn't fade so quickly, especially with his help. He'd devote a column in his newspaper only to the Host Club, starting tomorrow. The girls of the school wouldn't be able to help themselves, he was sure of it; the paper would easily sell out in a matter of minutes.

He'd hired several members of the Photography Club to follow Haruhi around, and take photos of her at any chance they got. That way…he'd have a photo to back up whatever story he felt he could publish.

The Host Club would be destroyed…and with it, Tamaki Suou.

Akira couldn't wait, not one bit.

* * *

And the plot thickens!

Another short chapter. I generally only write short stories, though, so this is about average for me.

I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave constructive criticisms (other than this is short. I am well aware of that).


	4. And There'll Be Trouble For All pt 4

Weeks passed, and eventually, things settled down.

Or rather, they settled down as well as they could, what with the new gossip column in the school's newspaper entirely devoted to the Host Club. Haruhi tried not to pay any attention to it; after all, it was all nonsense, and she wasn't exactly a part of the club anymore. However, every so often (or fairly often, if she was honest), her photo would appear in the paper, and she'd be tempted to look.

Usually the stories that included her had either to do with a member of the Host Club having a crush on her (the member varied every time, though Tamaki was the one most often mentioned), or what strange "commoner" things she did. Both make her shake her head and sigh; her life outside of school couldn't be all that shocking, even to the rich kids at the school. And, the thought that any of the hosts had a crush on her was laughable; they were all simply friends.

She'd been doing her bit of work as the Host Club's 'dog,' and while it was going to take longer to work off the debt, there was a bright side to it; by not participating so much with the Host Club, she wasn't running into as many opportunities to raise her debt. In fact, her debt hadn't been raised at all since she'd been demoted.

Kyouya didn't seem too happy about the gossip column; every now and then, she'd find him looking at the paper, only to crumple it angrily. She suspected that he'd tried to make the newspaper club stop publishing the stories, but what could he do? They weren't posting anything wrong; it was all based on speculation- and said so, throughout the articles. Not once, in a single article about the Host Club, did they present their stories as hard fact.

Haruhi didn't see the big deal anyway. There wasn't anything terrible published; the very worst she had seen were of the idea that a host had a crush on her, and that wasn't all that terrible at all.

Thankfully, though, the rest of the school seemed to be growing used to the idea of her being a girl. There had been a few girls, though, who had come to her in tears, begging her to tell them that it wasn't true, that she was really a boy. That had been the most shocking of all; girls had actually liked her? Liked her-liked her? It didn't seem possible; she hadn't flirted endlessly with them like Tamaki had. All she'd done was carry on conversations.

That had been a bit of a mess to clear up. But, beyond that, there hadn't been any problems. The odd thing was that, while she had several guy friends when she was thought to be a boy, they seemed to have disappeared once it came out that she was a girl. Well, at first they'd been very warm and friendly to her, but suddenly, they stopped talking to her at all.

It was the weirdest thing.

* * *

Every last member of the Host Club had noticed it: the looks that Haruhi received from the male population of the school not long after it was revealed that she was actually a girl; the whispers of how they'd like to ask her out; the locker room talk about her. And then, how they'd talk to her, _flirt_ with her.

Haruhi, of course, remained completely oblivious of this fact, which made it all easier for the club to take care of it.

And 'the club' of course meant just Tamaki and the twins. Hunnie was more amused by the fact that everyone found her so adorable (and so Mori didn't help), and Kyouya couldn't be bothered by something as silly as harassing anyone who so much as looked at Haruhi.

Though, Tamaki didn't actually do much; he mere brooded and pouted over it, sending death glares instead of taking action. It was the twins who did most of the work, since they were around Haruhi the most. They made sure that no boy ever asked Haruhi out, by successfully intimidating anyone who mere voiced the opinion that she was cute.

And it all went unnoticed by Haruhi, though not by the Newspaper Club. Akira had, at the sudden success of the paper, found more students who wanted to join as journalists. He had promptly put them to work, following any and all of the hosts, keeping track of their every move. And so, the news of them harassing various members of the student body did not miss Akira; he was quick to print out a story on the 'dark side' of the twins.

That issue had sold out within a matter of minutes, much to Akira's happiness.

It was another notch in his plan, to slowly draw out the bad sides of the hosts, to turn their guests against them. It would happen slowly, if he were to do it right.

If only he could find some dirt on Tamaki; then it would move along faster. However, he appeared to be doing an excellent job covering up whatever dark past he might have…. But it was there, Akira was sure of it.

Everyone had a dark side, and Tamaki Suou was no exception.

* * *

An update! Hurray!

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	5. And There'll Be Trouble For All pt 5

Kyouya's agitation remained apparent for the next few days; at least, it seemed obvious to Haruhi that he was

Kyouya's agitation remained apparent for the next few days; at least, it seemed obvious to Haruhi that he was. He was very good at staying calm, and keeping a very cool façade, but still, Haruhi was sure he wasn't happy. When she voiced this thought to the twins, they'd merely shrugged in response.

"Ne, he tried to _convince_ the newspaper club to stop the column," Hikaru said.

"But Komatsuzawa wouldn't budge," Kaoru finished.

Convince? Haruhi was sure some sort of veiled (or perhaps, not-so-veiled) threat had been used. Well, good for him; he was sticking up for himself, and she knew how intimidating Kyouya could be at times.

They were in the third music room; the club was just letting out for the day. Hunnie was busy wolfing down the last of the cake, Mori with him, of course, and Kyouya was writing in his notebook as usual. Tamaki was walking a few girls out, flirting with them as he did so. Haruhi, for some reason, was doing her best not to watch; it wasn't something she found particularly nice to watch.

She was gathering up the last of the china onto a tray, the twins on either side of her. All she had left to do for the day was wash these, and then she'd be free to go home and finish her homework.

"Why should he?" Haruhi asked. "He has every right to publish what he wants."

She missed the look the twins exchanged as she reached for the very last teacup and saucer.

"Haruhi, don't you know they've been writing about you?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked at the same time.

Haruhi straightened up, and shrugged, looking over at Hikaru. She knew, but it just didn't matter all that much to her. "It's just gossip." She turned to carry the china to the washroom, only to find Tamaki standing just a few feet away, a slightly puzzled look on his face as he stared at a piece of paper in his hand.

"Tamaki, is something wrong?"

He didn't respond, just continued to look down at the paper. Hikaru and Kaoru were instantly by Tamaki, peering around him to study the paper.

"What's this, M'lord?"

"A…phone number?"

Haruhi let out a huff; of course someone had given him a phone number. It was ridiculous, and so typical of the students here. She continued toward the washroom.

Unfortunately her loud exhale hadn't gone unnoticed. The twins, as they usually did, flanked themselves on either side of her, leaning in close. "What was that, Haruhi?" They asked simultaneously.

"Nothing; it's just silly for anyone to give their number to Tamaki," Haruhi said shortly.

"Haruhi, are you…"

"Jealous?"

"What?" Haruhi stopped in her tracks, looking sharply at Hikaru and Kaoru. Jealous? She couldn't be jealous; there was no reason to be…was there? Yes, it did bother her that the girl (whoever it was) had done that, but that didn't mean she was jealous. "Why would I be-"

"Haruhi's jealous?" Tamaki had bound over to her, his usual dopey grin on his face. Haruhi sighed; of course he'd hear that. "Haruhi, you're jealous that another girl has shown signs of affection towards me? That they've been so bold to give me their phone number? That-"

"I'm not jealous!" Haruhi snapped. "I just think it's stupid that anyone would take your flirting seriously!"

The twins began to chant. "Haruhi's jealous, Haruhi's jealous, Haruhi's-"

"I'm not jealous!" Annoyed, Haruhi stalked off. Of course, they would think she was jealous when clearly she wasn't. There was a difference between annoyance and jealousy, and this was clearly annoyance.

Right?

* * *

When Haruhi emerged from the washroom, the third music room was completely vacant, save for Tamaki. He was sitting on one of the sofas, still staring at the phone number, that same puzzled expression on his face. Haruhi couldn't possibly fathom what would be so intriguing about it. She'd been about ready to just leave, calling out a farewell to Tamaki as she went, but curiosity got the better of her. Instead, she walked over to Tamaki and sat down beside him.

"Are you all right?"

He looked at her, then back at the paper. "Why do you think I was given this?" he asked.

Haruhi thought that was fairly obvious. "The girl probably likes you. She designated you, didn't she?"

Tamaki nodded. "She didn't leave my side the entire time, either, not even when there was supposed to be a new group of girls designating me." He paused. "She's new to the school, and apparently she doesn't realize this is all just for fun."

"You didn't expect her to take you seriously?" Or any of the girls for that matter.

"Everyone knows this is all for amusement." He frowned slightly. "I guess I'm just far too convincing, too good at bedazzling girls."

Only Tamaki would view it that way, Haruhi thought. It still didn't make sense to her that this would be bothering him. After all, it was his goal, wasn't it, to be flirtatious and win over the hearts of as many of the girls at the school as was possible. "But you're supposed to be," she pointed out. "It's not your-" No, that was a lie. It would be his fault, just not wholly. "It's not entirely your fault;

"Ah, but this is not good," Tamaki said, shaking his head. He pocketed the phone number, and stood. "She'll be upset when she realizes none of this is real. We'll have to put a stop to this before it goes too far."

Haruhi was in awe. She'd never expected Tamaki to be so very aware of what his actions caused at times- and even more so that he was going to do something about it. Yes, she knew he was kind at heart, but he was also very naïve and very, well, selfish at times. The fact that he'd not only noticed that someone was about to get hurt due to his actions but was also going to do what he could to avoid it was very admirable. It showed just how deep his kindness ran- surely any of the other hosts would just let it go, saying it was the girl's own stupid fault for not realizing it was all an act.

Tamaki was very kind, and very good, and so very (surprisingly?) smart.

It was then that Haruhi realized that she liked Tamaki. Not just as a friend, but in a romantic way; as someone she could one day grow to love.

Any normal girl would have blushed at the sudden realization, would have turned away in embarrassment; or decide to act indifferent, so as not to let on; or even, perhaps flirt. But Haruhi was not a normal girl; she rarely, if ever blushed, she reacted too quickly to even consider playing hard to get, and she never flirted.

No, she was just blunt, and reacted quickly, without thinking.

Haruhi kissed Tamaki.

It was far from the romantic first kiss scene from a movie; oh, it was not even close. She had stood up quickly, almost tripping over her own feet as she did so, and in this movement, she had hardly reached her target. Hell, she hadn't even connected entirely with his mouth; her lips were half pressed against his, half against his chin, her nose caught beneath his. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Haruhi was cursing her small stature; if she was just a bit taller, she would have hit her target.

When she pulled back, only a second or two later, though it felt much longer, Tamaki was staring at her, eyes wide. Suddenly, Haruhi was very aware of what a very rash thing she'd done, and was thankful that no one had been around to see it.

Or so she thought.

"H-Haruhi?" Tamaki stuttered out. He seemed to be in complete and total shock, and, honestly, from the look on his face, Haruhi was impressed that he'd managed to say her name clearly.

She struggled to find something to say. 'I'm sorry,' seemed to be appropriate; however, it wasn't exactly true. She wasn't sorry for her actions, not one bit. 'How was it?' seemed to be a little too cocky, and 'are you okay?' was just…stupid.

Luckily, she didn't have to reply; Tamaki had closed the distance between them and kissed her, so very gently, as though he was scared she'd pull away. Haruhi didn't, of course; instead, she leaned into him, into the kiss, and his hand rose up, gently cupping her cheeks.

It was one of those rare times that she blushed; this was much more like a scene from a romance film.

Tamaki pulled back, but still held her cheeks, keeping her looking up at him. She couldn't read the expression in his eyes as he studied her face, until he smiled, and then it was just pure joy. Haruhi couldn't help but return the smile. He kissed her forehead, then hugged her, and whispered to her, "I knew you were jealous."

And promptly ruined the moment.

Haruhi didn't move for half a second, out of shock; then she braced her hands against his chest, shoving him back, away from her. "What?"

"You were jealous," Tamaki repeated, still smiling. Why was he smiling while she was so obviously not happy? "You said you weren't, but you were!"

"I wasn't jealous," Haruhi snapped at him. Why had he brought it up? Shouldn't he, the president of the Host Club, the one who supposedly knew the most about all things romantic, have known that saying something like that would completely kill the mood?

"You were!"

"I was not!"

Maybe he wasn't as smart as she thought.

* * *

Akira had been in a bad mood for most of the week; absolutely nothing interesting had come out in regards of the Host Club recently, and it was beyond irritating. How on earth was he supposed to ruin them- namely Tamaki- if he couldn't find any dirt on them?

They all seemed to be excellent at hiding their secrets, Haruhi included, despite her inability to pay people off (as Akira was sure the others had to have done). And it was all very frustrating.

It was, at least, until he received a phone call, only a few hours after school had let out. He'd been sitting at his computer, looking at what was tomorrow's paper. There was hardly anything worth noting (at least, in the Host Club's regard) in it. And then his phone rang.

"Akira Komatsuzawa," he said, answering his phone.

"Hello Akira. It's Shenshi Yamabuki."

Akira nodded to himself; one of the photographers he'd recently taken in. "You'd better have good news, Yamabuki."

The voice on the other end chuckled. "I do believe I do. I just found Mr. Suou and Miss Fujioka alone in the third music room and, well, I think the photos speak for themselves. Check your email; you won't be disappointed."

Akira raised an eyebrow, intrigued, as he opened up his email account. "What are you implying?"

"Just look at the photos, Akira."

As promised, Akira had a new message, with a file attached. Seconds later, he had it opened, and was staring at his screen, his jaw slack. This…this was better than he'd imagined.

"I do believe we have tomorrow's headline, Yamabuki."

* * *

So, I gave in. A longer chapter. It's very unusual for me to write chapters this long, so don't be surprised if the chapters to come aren't this long. I'm used to short, concise and to the point.

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	6. And There'll Be Trouble For All pt 6

Due to bus schedules, Haruhi always arrived to class just moments before the bell would ring, giving her very little time to mingle with the other students. At most, she might be able to talk with the twins momentarily as they took their seats, but that was the extent of free time she had before class would start.

Today was no different; she walked into the classroom, sure the bell would ring any second. Hikaru and Kaoru were at their usual place in the morning, sitting on a sill of a window in the far corner. They looked as though they'd been talking quietly, but stopped when she had walked in. Haruhi smiled, raising a hand to wave 'hello' to them when, suddenly, Hikaru looked sharply away. Kaoru glanced at Hikaru, then back at her; he gave her a small smile and a wave before returning his attention back to his brother.

This was very odd. Usually they leapt up at the sight of her, greeting her before she even got the chance to fully walk into the room. And, before she could say anything to them about it, the bell rang.

Letting out a soft sigh, Haruhi moved to her seat; oh well. Maybe it wasn't that big of a deal.

But, Haruhi noticed something else that was amiss. The rest of the room- the girls, mostly- were looking at her, whispering. She shrugged that off after a moment; today, a new issue of the school paper would be out. Undoubtedly there was some idiotic article about her taking the trash out or something. Honestly, the students here found the oddest things to consider strange.

* * *

Hikaru and Kaoru were not as naïve as Haruhi, and knew exactly why the female population of the school was whispering about her. They had seen the paper, seen the article, and neither had been happy with it.

The article was not long; in fact, it was no more than three paragraphs long, and still it took up a whole page, mostly due to the enormous photos that had been printed. The first was of Haruhi and Tamaki in an embrace, kissing; the second of Haruhi shoving Tamaki away. And the article went on about how Tamaki had come onto Haruhi, that he had pressured her; it all but said that he had been nearly trying to date rape her.

Hikaru and Kaoru hadn't been fooled. They knew both Haruhi and Tamaki better than that. Tamaki would never have come onto Haruhi; he was too much of a dope to even consider making the first move.

No, it had to have been Haruhi to initiate it. Why she was shoving him away in one of the photos, they couldn't figure out, but they weren't worried about that. He'd most likely just said something that annoyed her.

Hikaru was upset, incredibly hurt and confused by it. He knew and recognized his feelings for Haruhi, and for her to have kissed Tamaki…. It was almost too much for him to handle.

It was now lunch time; Kaoru had made some sort of an excuse for them not to join Haruhi for lunch. He was dealing with this all so much better than Hikaru, because he didn't like her the same way. And Kaoru knew he had to help Hikaru now.

They were in a small hallway leading to one of the courtyards; just an archway, really. It was rarely used, and that was specifically why they'd chosen this place to talk.

Kaoru was concerned for Hikaru, and Hikaru knew it. Likewise, Hikaru was hurting, and Kaoru knew it.

They really didn't need to say much; they could nearly always tell what the other was thinking or feeling. But still, verbalizing things helped at times.

"I don't understand," Hikaru said. _She's our friend_, were the unspoken words. _Why would she want someone else?_

"I don't know," Kaoru said quietly. "She's…." _Different._

"But…." Hikaru looked away. _Why not me?_

Kaoru's face fell slightly as he looked at his brother. _I don't know. It'll be okay._ He shifted so he met Hikaru's gaze. "She noticed." _How different we're acting._ "She'll get worried if things don't return to normal.

"I know. I just…." _This hurts._

Kaoru didn't need his connection to his brother to know that; he saw it in every move Hikaru made, every gesture. And it hurt him, to see it so plainly.

He hugged his older brother; it was all he could do. _I know. I know, but it'll be okay. I'm here_. "We just need to act like everything is okay, so she doesn't get upset."

"But, she-she-" _She hurt me, she did this, why should we worry about that?_

"She didn't do it to hurt you, Hikaru," Kaoru said, letting go of Hikaru and stepping back. "She doesn't know how you feel."

Hikaru looked away again, clearly upset. He didn't speak for a moment, and Kaoru just waited. He'd eventually say something, somehow let him know.

Eventually, Hikaru met his eyes. _Okay_.

* * *

Lunch time should have been uneventful, Haruhi thought in retrospect. After all, the twins hadn't even shown up, and with the troublemakers gone, nothing exciting should have happened.

But then again, she did eat with the Host Club, so she should have known something dramatic was bound to happen. She'd sat down at their usual table and had been unpacking her lunch while she waited for the rest of them to show up.

She hadn't been expecting Tamaki to come out of nowhere, wrapping his arms around her tightly, crying out, "Haruhi! I'm here, don't worry!"

Haruhi had merely sighed. Of course he'd act this way, after last night….

After their small spat over whether Haruhi had been jealous or not, they had talked, briefly. Or rather, Tamaki had talked, going on and on about how elated he was that Haruhi had kissed him, how amazing it was. It had grown very tiresome very quickly, and Haruhi had even begun to question her how feelings; how could she like someone so annoying?

But, eventually, Tamaki had stopped with his prattling, and became very serious, one of the few times that Haruhi had seen him so serious.

He had formally asked her to be his girlfriend and, she had accepted.

Now, Haruhi was beginning to wonder if it had been such a good idea if this was how he was going to act.

"I wasn't worried," Haruhi said, hoping he'd let go of her soon.

"After we've been apart for so long?" Thankfully, Tamaki removed his arms from her and sat down beside her. "I wasn't sure you could go so long without seeing me."

"I never see you before lunchtime," she pointed out, and took a bite from her meal.

"Yes, but…" At this, he leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Before you weren't my _girlfriend_." He kissed her cheek.

She couldn't help but blush; Haruhi was just beginning to understand exactly why so many girls designated him. Maybe it was only because now she knew exactly how good of a kisser he was, but…she didn't find it so odd that the girls who designated him would fawn over him so much when he acted like this.

"Tamaki, you are causing a scene."

Both Tamaki and Haruhi looked up suddenly, in surprise. Kyouya was placing his lunch tray on the table, and pulling his chair out.

"Hello Kyouya!" Tamaki said happily, straightening up.

Haruhi nodded to Kyouya in a greeting, then, curious as to what Kyouya was talking about, looked around the room. Surprisingly enough, almost the entire cafeteria was staring as them; girls had stopped in mid-stride even to blatantly watch them. And, the weirdest thing about it was they weren't staring with their usual looks of lust and adoration; no. They seemed…strangely angry or annoyed.

What would they have to be angry about?

* * *

Akira sat in the cafeteria in disbelief. All his efforts so far had been deemed absolutely useless so far! The article he had published had defaced Tamaki in every way he could without invoking the wrath of the entire club- and had photos to back it up. And yet the girls were not appalled at Tamaki's alleged behavior.

No; they were appalled by Haruhi's.

He'd heard them whispering and gossiping all day, about how crazy Haruhi had been to shove Tamaki away, how they would have done anything to be in her place. Honestly, had they even read the article? There was nothing remotely nice in it about Tamaki; in fact, it was all sympathetic towards Haruhi.

It appeared to be as though they'd only paid attention to the photos.

Which appeared to be for the best, for right in front of his eyes, his article was being disproved; Tamaki was being very affectionate towards Haruhi, right in the middle of the cafeteria where everyone could see. It was as though he was mocking him, that bastard.

And all those stupid girls were just standing there, glaring at Haruhi when they should be glaring at Tamaki, telling him off, doing something besides worshipping the ground he walked on!

It was clear; Akira was going to have to take a different route to get to Tamaki.

* * *

An update! An update, whoo!

Anyway, I'm trying to make my chapters longer. I'm really not a long chapter type of girl, so this is a struggle for me. I hope I'm doing well, and please, any bits on how I could improve are always appreciated.

I hope you enjoyed it!


	7. Send This Slut Away pt 1

_"You must send this slut away  
__Or we're all gonna end in the gutter...."  
_

* * *

"Now," Akira said slowly, leaning back in his chair, arms folded across his chest, "how do we fix the situation?"

The situation was how the school was reacting to the article- which was the wrong way. Instead of directing their anger and disgust at Tamaki (for allegedly forcing himself on Haruhi), the female population of the school was directing it at Haruhi. Whether it was because she turned him down (allegedly- this, of course, wasn't true, due to how Tamaki and Haruhi had acted at lunch), or that she was at the receiving end of his affections, Akira wasn't sure, and he very well didn't care. All that mattered was that the girls were so incredibly stupid for not being angry at Tamaki, and he was frustrated because of this.

It was a club meeting of the Newspaper Club. While the rest of the members- new members- were busily researching stories, Akira was in the back of the room with the other two original members, discussing this problem.

"Tamaki is the most well-liked boy in school," Chikage Ukyou pointed out. "It's going to be hard to knock him off his pedestal."

"We need some dirt on him," Akira said; he'd been saying this for weeks, and was sorely disappointed in the results thus far. "Some real, horrifying news…."

"It's hard to find anything on him though," Tomochika Sakyou said. He'd stopped taking the photographs for the club, once more talented members from the Photography club had been enlisted, and was now one of the journalists. He'd been heading the group that was focused solely on finding information on Tamaki. "We've been searching, and all I've found is that his grandmother isn't fond of him. He's squeaky clean."

That peaked Akira's interested. He turned to look at Tomochika. "His grandmother doesn't like him? Why?"

Tomochika shrugged. "I haven't been able to find that out."

"Continue looking! Look harder; we need something on him!"

"Maybe….we should go about this slowly," Chikage interrupted.

Slowly? Akira didn't want to go slowly; he wanted results, and fast! His eyes narrowed, he directed his attention to the other club member. "Meaning?"

"The school adores Tamaki," Chikage said. "No one will turn on him instantaneously, no matter what we print. So, if we go slowly, over the school year, printing out stories that point out small faults, gradually getting larger, eventually we could print something that really tears him up. By then, we would have built enough against him for that to be accepted by the school."

Akira considered it; yes…it did make sense. "Interesting idea…. I like it."

"We could also get to him, simultaneously, through Haruhi Fujioka," Chikage continued. "The school all ready isn't particularly fond of her; we could print more and more stories about her. It'll upset her, and if she's upset-"

"Tamaki will be unpredictable," Akira finished, grinning. "Ingenious."

This new plan was sure to work.

* * *

Kyouya had noticed it.

Girls were getting agitated with Haruhi, particularly at the Host Club. It wasn't Haruhi's fault, really; Tamaki was, apparently, just an overly affectionate boyfriend. She did her best to complete all the tasks required of her each day, and truly did a fantastic job with how many times Tamaki pulled her aside to give her a hug or a kiss, to compliment her to a nearly nauseating extent; Kyouya was shocked that she did get everything done.

The problem was the other girls. They did not appreciate Tamaki, the host they'd designated to make them feel special and shower them with all sorts of dreamy sayings, instead paying attention to Haruhi- and it was clear, from all the angry looks they shot her, that they were blaming her.

He'd heard several girls say, as they walked out when the Host Club was closing one day, that they didn't want to come back if Haruhi was just going to steal all the attention from them.

And that Kyouya did not like. It simply wasn't going to work, having Haruhi work off her debt at the Host Club. She'd have to pay off her debt another way; out of her own pocket.

He wouldn't be able to tell Tamaki this; he'd try to have her debt cleared away- and then the Host Club would lose money. That was unacceptable. So, he'd have to be tricky to get this taken care of correctly.

* * *

Haruhi ran to the third music room. She was late; even though she was simply working as the Host Club's dog, she still felt it was important to be on time. However, today she had stayed after with one of her teachers to discuss a paper she'd turned in; she felt that he had graded her a touch too harshly on it, and was able to convince him that he had.

As she neared the third music room, her heart sank; Kyouya was standing outside the doors. Was he going to add more to her debt just because she was ten minutes late? Really, it was unfair how he just added to it whenever he felt like it.

"Kyouya, I'm sorry," she said as she reached him. "I had to-"

"It doesn't matter," Kyouya said, interrupting her. He was writing in his notebook, and didn't look up. "You don't need to come in today."

Haruhi blinked. "Why-"

"We won't need you to come in ever again actually. Your presence has been upsetting the customers, and thus we've been losing some of them."

Haruhi was confused. How then… "What about the debt?" she asked.

Kyouya shut his notebook, finally looking at her. "You'll have to find another way to pay it off then, won't you? An after school job, perhaps; commoners usually have one, I've heard."

Haruhi refused to let him calling her a 'commoner' bother her. She had to get a job to pay it off? Well, at least, if she was away from the Host Club, her debt could only decrease…. "O-okay," she said, nodding. "I'll find one this week."

"Good." Kyouya turned, to go into the third music room, and paused. "Oh, and Tamaki doesn't know about this; let's keep it that way. Otherwise, he'd insist you stay around, and your debt would only grow."

"He doesn't know?"

"I've told him you paid off your debt," he said. "Now, I've got to get back to the club."

"A-all right," Haruhi said, and bid him goodbye.

This was certainly odd, she thought, as she made her way out of the school. Not necessarily bad, but odd.

* * *

Another chapter! I'm sorry; this would have been up sooner, but my computer crashed! Oh, the humanity!

Anyway, please leave constructive criticisms!


	8. Send This Slut Away pt 2

HOKAY.

This chapter hasn't been the easiest to write- in fact, it's one of the most difficult pieces of fanfiction I've ever tackled. It's just that, and I know that it is canon and it's how things should be, but I can't for the life of me see Haruhi and Tamaki together. At all. I personally think the best fit with Haruhi is Mori, but this story is following canon ideals, and…so I have to suffer through it. So, I apologize in advance if anything seems rather stiff and forced. It's extremely hard for me to write Tamaki/Haruhi, and so this probably won't be the best chapter in this story.

However, I absolutely adore writing from Tamaki's perspective, so this could come out decently. Who knows?

That said….

Onto the story!

* * *

Tamaki had at first been saddened by the news that Haruhi had completely paid off her debt (she wouldn't be at the Host Club anymore), then beyond excited (she could come to the Host Club just to spend time with him). He, in his usual enthusiastic way, mentioned this to Kyouya, who glared him down.

"I don't think it'll be a good idea for Haruhi to come here while the club is in session," Kyouya said, turning his attention back to his notebook.

The club had just started for the day, and as Tamaki hadn't seen Haruhi come in, he had gone to Kyouya, worried. It was then that Kyouya explained that, as her debt had been cleared, she most likely had other things to do during this time.

"Why not?" Tamaki asked, pouting slightly.

"Haruhi distracts you from your customers, and you wouldn't want all the girls who come here to see you to feel neglected, would you?"

A very troubling question indeed. He hadn't noticed that he was distracted by Haruhi- sure, he said hello to her whenever she had passed by with coffees for the guests, and had given her the occasional hug, but honestly, it wasn't all that much.

"I do not get distracted," Tamaki said firmly, his pout growing. "Haruhi is always welcome here."

And nothing Kyouya said could change that.

But, much to Tamaki's dismay, Haruhi never came to the Host Club, and he saw her less because of it. And then, to top it off, she got a job! A real job! How could she do that? Now, not only did he not see her much during school (they had different free periods, and she never told him where she went during the study halls- something about her needing to concentrate, and him being detrimental to that) and the Host Club, but she was now busy four out of five weekday afternoons due to her job.

He'd come to visit her, once, at the convenience store she worked at- a concept that Tamaki found to be absolutely ingenious. Everything (excluding the true comforts of life) was readily available to be purchased in such a small store. Commoners could be so clever sometimes. She and her manager hadn't been exactly pleased.

"Tamaki," she had said quietly, a touch of anger in her voice, "could you please leave?"

He'd been running around the store, looking at everything that was there, yelling about how great it was that such things as convenience stores existed, and how interesting some of the packaging was and what was-

"Now?" Haruhi had nearly snapped, glancing back at her manager. He was a very large man, and he was glaring at him, arms folded over his chest.

"But, Haruhi, I never see you!" Tamaki had whined in return. "When will-"

"I'll call you once I'm done, all right? Now please, leave."

He'd relented, and never went back again (he would have, but she made him promise not to).

And so, all the times they were apart made him extremely grateful for moments like this, when they were together. They were currently at his home, curled up in front of a movie. Tamaki would have preferred that they go out and do something, but Haruhi was a bit tired, from working earlier that day. And, since the next day was Sunday and neither had school or work, Haruhi was able to stay late (something that Tamaki was very excited about).

"Haruhi," Tamaki said quietly, nestling his chin further onto her shoulder, "do you want to…." He paused, unsure of what he was exactly offering what they should be doing instead. All he knew was that he was getting bored with the movie. "….To go for a walk?"

"Nnn," Haruhi mumbled. "I'm comfy." She hugged the arm that he had wrapped around her close, to prove her point.

"But I'm bored."

She let out an audible sigh. "Tamaki, I'm tired." She shifted, and he sat up more; she was rolling around to face him. "I don't want to move."

Tamaki pouted, but he wasn't too upset. Her attention was now on him, and not the movie. That was always a good thing.

"Not at all?" he asked.

"Not at all."

"Not even…." And here he leaned in close again, letting his lips brush against her ear as he whispered, "To kiss me?"

She let out a little groan- not one of displeasure, Tamaki was sure. "You know that's completely different."

Tamaki grinned. He was still inches away. "Prove it."

She smiled, paused a moment, then leaned up and connected her lips with his. Completely pleased with himself, Tamaki returned the kiss, letting one of his hands creep around to cup the back of her head, supporting it, and keeping her close.

Not that it was necessary to keep her close that way; he was half on top of her as is.

But, Tamaki mused (or rather, he would have mused had he not been so preoccupied with his current actions; i.e., sucking face with Haruhi) that kissing Haruhi was possibly the greatest thing in the world, and the fact that he'd been denied it for so long was surely a sin. Her lips meshed perfectly against his, and she made little noises in the back of her throat that were simply divine. There was positively nothing else that could feel so wonderful, so good-

"Ahem."

Tamaki bolted upright at the sound of a throat being cleared. Looking behind him, he blushed red. "Shima! How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to realize I am too late," his housekeeper said with a sigh.

"Huh?" Too late? Tamaki wondered over this as Haruhi shifted so that she was upright, adjusting her shirt. He wished she hadn't done that. Yes, her shirt had gotten twisted around while she had been lying on the sofa with him, but now it seemed like they had been doing much more than they had been.

"Seeing as it is dark out and thus getting late, I was coming by to suggest that Miss Fujioka may want to return home before you did anything…untoward to her," Shima said.

"But we weren't-"

Haruhi cut him off. "I should probably be going," she said. "I have homework I wanted to get done tonight anyway."

Tamaki pouted. Well, this certainly wasn't how he'd wanted the night to go.

* * *

I hope this turned out all right!

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	9. Send This Slut Away pt 3

I think I've forgotten to mention this; I've never had to, since most of my stories are one-shots, or slightly abstract enough for it not to matter. But, this follows the anime. I unfortunately haven't read the manga, and I don't have the time or money to. So, if something clashes against something in the manga, that's why. Please don't hate me for it.

* * *

It was one of the few afternoons that Haruhi didn't have work that also coincided with a day that Host Club wasn't in session, and so, Tamaki had insisted that they all stay after school together to play hide and seek in the garden maze. It was a warm, sunny fall day, which made for great weather to be running around outside. And, surprisingly enough, Haruhi agreed to join in instead of doing schoolwork.

Hikaru was not entirely happy about this. He didn't want to see Tamaki being all cute with Haruhi, not one bit. He was doing fine, pretending the two weren't together at all, which was a fairly easy feat in itself, most of the time. The two almost never were together during school hours, Haruhi rarely, if ever, talked about the times she and Tamaki were alone, and with Haruhi away from the Host Club, Hikaru only saw Tamaki by himself. The only times he was really reminded were when he caught sight of a new article from that damned newspaper (which tore Haruhi to pieces whenever possible), and whenever he overheard gossip from the girls in school.

Kaoru, of course, knew and understood why Hikaru wasn't overjoyed at the thought of hide and seek.

But, things looked up as soon as the seeker was decided upon.

There hadn't really been a set way to decide who was the seeker; no one wanted to, and Hikaru could see that Tamaki was just about to appoint someone as it when Haruhi remembered a way it had been decided when she was young; something called 'spit.'

Disgusting images of everyone spitting each other filled his mind until Haruhi explained the concept of it, and then Tamaki leapt at the chance to try it. Getting them all in a circle, he started:

"Spit, spit, spit, you are not IT!"

Kyouya was not the seeker.

"Spit, spit, spit, you are not IT!"

Hikaru was not the seeker.

"Spit, spit, spit, you are not IT!"

Hunnie was not the seeker.

"Spit, spit, spit, you are not IT!"

Kaoru was not the seeker.

"Spit, spit, spit, you are not IT!"

Mori was not the seeker.

At this point, Hikaru was glad. Tamaki and Haruhi couldn't stay together because one of them would be hiding and one would be seeking. By Tamaki's face, he clearly hadn't realized this, as he was still grinning; he was probably still having fun with this 'spit' game.

"Spit, spit, spit, you are not IT!"

Haruhi was not the seeker, which meant….

"Tamaki's it!" Hikaru and Kaoru cried at the same time, teasingly.

The realization hitting him, Tamaki's jaw dropped. "But-" He looked at Haruhi. It was obvious he had planned on hiding with her.

"Don't worry; we'll take good care of her!" Kaoru said, taking Haruhi by the hand, and pulling her towards the entrance of the maze. Hikaru followed, grinning, thankful to his brother.

The three of them raced in, Haruhi now willingly going with them. Kaoru had taken up the lead, and Haruhi and Hikaru were jogging side by side. Hikaru couldn't help but grin.

"Here!" Kaoru said in a hushed whisper; they were at the twins' favorite hiding spot. It was where two bushes came together, but there was some space left accidently between them, enough for someone to crawl through to a space where they could sit and wait.

Hikaru crawled in first, reaching the small space, and crouched there, hugging his legs to his chest, much like he did to conserve space when he'd visited Haruhi's apartment. Then came Haruhi, taking up the same position he had. Their knees were touching, and it was clear that there was no way Kaoru could fit.

"Um, Kaoru?" Haruhi had called out.

"No room?" Kaoru had replied from the other side of the bushes, and Hikaru understood. He was trying to give them alone time. But…where would Kaoru go, without him?

"None," Haruhi answered.

"Karou…" Hikaru said, a little nervous about his brother going elsewhere.

"It's too late to find another hiding place," Kaoru replied. "Tamaki's probably done counting. I'll find somewhere else." They heard him run off.

As the seconds passed, Hikaru really became aware of how small the space was; he'd never really noticed with Kaoru because, well, they were always very close together. But, to be this close with Haruhi….

"It's okay," Haruhi whispered suddenly.

Hikaru looked up at her sharply. What was she talking about?

"Don't worry about Kaoru. He'll be okay," she assured him.

Oh. That's what. Right, Kaoru. He's not here, and Haruhi is and- oh jeez. She'd put her hand on his, and squeezed it comfortingly.

"Thanks," Hikaru mumbled, looking down.

"You're being really calm though," she continued quietly, "for being separated."

"Uh-hn." She was still holding his hand. It was warm and fit perfectly over his.

"You're-" She stopped suddenly, as there were footsteps just outside of the way into where they were hiding. They both froze, staring at the little crawl space; someone was coming through….

Someone with a camera.

Before either had a chance to say anything, there was a blinding flash as a photo was taken of the two of them. And then Hikaru realized it; this was someone for the Newspaper Club, trying to get pictures of Haruhi.

"What the…?" Haruhi murmured, bewildered, as the student suddenly crawled quickly out; they'd clearly seen the angry look in Hikaru's eyes, and took that as an invitation to leave.

"Newspaper Club," Hikaru said angrily. "They're looking for more gossip."

"Oh. But we're just playing hide and seek." Haruhi giggled slightly. "Nothing really interesting there."

Hikaru stared at Haruhi. She could be so naïve…. But he wouldn't worry her. He gave her a smile, though he was sure that somehow, the paper would twist that photo into something scandalous…..

* * *

Kyouya hadn't really been interested in playing hide and seek, but had gone along with it anyway. He really just wanted to figure some things out, but could do so while playing the game. If he were to be the seeker, he could just sit for a while, mulling things over, until he went to find everyone, which wouldn't be hard (only Mori and Hunnie changed their hiding places every time they played; Kyouya had memorized everyone else's). If he had to hide, he'd go into one of the gazebos and sit and go over his notes.

Which is exactly what he was doing. He had his notebook open and was staring at it. He was bothered and annoyed by the articles the Newspaper Club had been publishing in regards to Haruhi and the Host Club. Nothing too harmful had been reported about them (and he kept a close eye on everything they published now, and saved every article that mentioned any of them), but still….

He was sure Akira was up to something. He was an absolute nut, and had something up his sleeves, even if all he did was produce slander and rumors about Haruhi.

Really, as clear as it had been when he'd first tried to sabotage Tamaki, there was very little published about him now in a negative light. Sure, there was the occasional thing about him that wasn't too nice, but nothing big. It was all about Haruhi; how she was toying with his heart, how she was a gold digger, how she was unfaithful…. The list of things against her (all false) went on and on.

What on earth could be Akira's motive to do this?

Kyouya was pouring over all the articles, every note he had taken down about Akira and the other members of the Newspaper Club, and nothing, absolutely nothing led to why Akira was doing this.

"Found you!"

Kyouya looked up. Tamaki was stepping into the gazebo, grinning. "You're the first one I found, Kyouya! You get to seek now!" he said happily.

"Great." His tone was unenthusiastic as he looked back down notebook. He'd get some more time to figure this all out while Tamaki went to find everyone else.

* * *

Two updates in one day! This is a highly rare occasion, but I have recently become completely nocturnal, and there isn't much else for me to do but write while the world sleeps. I hope you enjoyed this.

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	10. Send This Slut Away pt 4

Tamaki never read the Newspaper Club's paper. It just never interested him enough to actually pick it up and read it, but nevertheless, he fully supported the club in its newfound popularity!

However, Tamaki found he had reason to pick up a paper after a girl ran up to him during a study hall, crying out, "Tamaki, I'm so sorry! How are you coping?"

"Eh…I'm sorry?" He'd been caught completely off guard, and hadn't time to settle into his prince character.

The girl blinked and then gasped. "Oh! You don't know? Oh, Tamaki! Haruhi is-is-" She looked around then stepped closer. "I'm so sorry to be the one to tell you this, but Haruhi is cheating on you!"

Again, Tamaki wasn't ready for what the girl said. "W-what?" Haruhi? Cheating on him? How could this be possible?

"It's in the school paper!"

Hearing that, Tamaki weakly said, "Excuse me," and went in search of one of the papers. It didn't take him long to find one; there was a discarded one on a nearby windowsill. Grabbing it, he opened it, scanning quickly for the article. He saw the photo before he saw the headline.

It was of Haruhi and Hikaru, and it looked innocent enough to Tamaki. They were crouched, very close together (and it looked like they were in a bush for some odd reason), and….

They were holding hands.

He couldn't believe it. That gave it away, gave away how completely not innocent this photograph was! And…they were probably in a bush because they were meeting in secret.

This…this was horrifying.

He had to find Haruhi.

* * *

The air in the school had seemed different today, at least to Haruhi. Something colder, angrier was buzzing around. Haruhi couldn't quite place it, but almost everyone seemed to be in a bad mood, and was directing it at her.

It wasn't anything new, really. Girls had been upset with her since she'd started dating Tamaki, and it was clearly just from petty jealousy. But it had never been so…vocalized.

On her way to her second period class, a girl in passing had actually called her a slut. That had made Haruhi momentarily pause in her tracks, but then she just shook it off. It wasn't worth worrying over; girls could be malicious over stupid things like jealousy, and if that was all Haruhi got, that was fine with her.

And, Hikaru and Kaoru hadn't spoken much to her at all yet. They'd been preoccupied when she came into class in the morning, reading one of the school newspapers, their expressions unreadable. Haruhi made a mental note to ask them about it as soon as she got the chance, which would most likely be at lunch.

During her study hall, Haruhi made her way to the library in the math wing. She really just needed to be left to her studying, and with all the hostile emotions running around today, the most avoided one seemed to be the best choice.

She'd been working on taking notes for her history class when suddenly Tamaki burst into the library. Though she wasn't within sight of the doors, Haruhi knew the moment he entered. The doors had slammed, and then came a yell.

"Haruhi?!"

Sighing, Haruhi put her pencil down and stood up. What on earth had gotten him so upset? This is exactly why she'd kept where she went during study halls a secret; so he couldn't come in and distract her.

Coming around the corner to meet him, she said, "Tamaki, what's wrong?"

He looked incredibly upset, and there was a frantic look in his eyes. "Haruhi!" he cried again, walking up to her, thrusting a newspaper in her face. "Tell me this isn't true!"

"Shh!" Haruhi hissed, taking the paper from him. "We're in a library! And tell you what isn't true?"

"This!" Tamaki jabbed a finger at the paper, and she looked down to where he'd pointed. There was a photo of her and Hikaru, the one that had been taken while they had been playing hide and seek. Brow furrowed in confusion, she glanced up at Tamaki, and then back down at the article.

Ah. So this explained everything. The article went on to say that she and Hikaru had been secretly meeting for weeks now, as she was seeing him behind Tamaki's back. Yes, this explained why girls were a bit meaner than usual, and how preoccupied the twins had been that morning.

And it was all from a photo from a game of hide and seek.

Haruhi couldn't help but start laughing at it, a little. It was purely ridiculous, what people could believe.

"Why are you laughing?" Tamaki seemed absolutely distraught.

"I'm not seeing Hikaru," Haruhi said, looking up at him. "This photo was taken when we played hide and seek last week. This isn't true." She chuckled a little.

"It isn't?" He didn't seem convinced. "But why are you holding hands?"

Why were they? It took Haruhi a moment to remember. "I was comforting him. There hadn't been enough room for Kaoru to hide with us, and he didn't seem all right with that. That's all." She'd stopped laughing now. "You thought that I'd cheat on you?" she asked, a little hurt at the thought.

Now Tamaki looked a little hurt as well. "There…there was a photo…."

Haruhi sighed, letting the paper drop onto a nearby table. She was a little ticked off that he'd be dumb enough to believe a stupid photo over something like this- and a not very convincing photo at that! "I'd never do that, Tamaki. Ever. You know that."

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, looking down. He really did look ashamed of himself.

Letting out another sigh, Haruhi hugged him. "Just don't believe these things without checking with me first, okay?"

"Okay," Tamaki said, letting his arms wrap around her. "Do you want to go to the courtyard, for fresh air?"

"No," Haruhi said, pulling out of the hug. "I've got work to- how'd you know I was here?"

"Kyouya told me," Tamaki admitted. "But now I know where to find you! And we can spend our study halls together!"

Haruhi groaned slightly, beginning to walk back to where her stuff was. "I have to get my work done, okay?"

"Okay! I promise I won't get in the way!" Tamaki grinned at her, following her.

Yep. She was never going to get any homework done during study hall again.

* * *

This had not been a particularly good day for Hikaru. When he and Kaoru arrived at school for the day, they were greeted with angry, cold looks from the majority of the girls they passed, and immediately set upon finding an issue of the school paper. And, upon reading it, Hikaru felt his face turn red with anger.

How fucking _dare_ Akira pull a bullshit stunt like this? What was he trying to do, anyway?

It had taken a lot of calming looks and silent words from Kaoru to calm him down.

And then he had to endure, for the rest of the day, all the looks and mutterings from his classmates. It wouldn't have been so hard a year or two ago, when he and Kaoru had been completely wrapped up in their own world, but they'd begun to open up, and now were dealing with a not so fun side of that.

At least the girls couldn't distinguish him from his brother, so neither was singled out for any sort of abuse.

Hikaru was worried how things would be at lunch. Surely Tamaki would have gotten wind of this stupid article, and Haruhi too….. But, at lunch, he found that there was nothing to be worried about. Haruhi was smiling, as was Tamaki, and the two were as cute together as ever during lunch. Hikaru exchanged glances with Kaoru; the two had to have talked it over, and Haruhi had been able to convince Tamaki that the article was a complete and total lie.

The rest of the school, despite how all of them were clearly getting along during lunch (and their lunch table was the center of everyone's attention, as it had been lately, due to Tamaki and Haruhi's relationship), was not so convinced, and that became clear during club hours.

Hikaru and Kaoru had been, as was usual, putting on their act of incestuous love for their diehard fans that could put their resentment towards Hikaru aside to see such forbidden acts when suddenly, both found themselves doused with water, and roses in their laps.

Hikaru had jumped up, whirling around; Kaoru did the same. A girl was standing behind the loveseat they'd been sharing, an angry look on her face and an empty vase in her hands. Hikaru was still trying to think of something to say through his shock when the girl cried out, "How could you do this to Tamaki, Hikaru?!"

That did it. Hikaru opened his mouth angrily, but before he could speak, Kyouya was there, responding to what the girl said.

"The stories printed in that newspaper are entirely fiction, Miss Cai," he said. "Nothing more, and nothing less." He adjusted his glasses. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave now. We can't have you disrupting the rest of the club."

Hikaru was still seething as Kyouya escorted the girl out. That damn newspaper had gone too far. He was going to-

"Hikaru! I'm all wet," Kaoru cried, turning Hikaru's attention to him. He was staring up at him, pleadingly, which could be mistaken for looking for his attention, but Hikaru knew better. He was pleading with him to calm down, and to further distract him from his anger, Kaoru took up his usual uke part. "And so cold, Hikaru…."

Drawing his brother into a close embrace, Hikaru relented and said, "I know ways to warm you up, Kaoru. And besides…." He dropped his voice to a whisper, yet still loud enough for the girls around to clearly hear him. "I love it when you're wet." As if to prove his point, he let his tongue flick out, to catch water droplets on Kaoru's chin.

The room suddenly erupted in girlish squeals, and Hikaru knew that the incident was nearly forgotten all ready.

Still. He needed to talk to Kyouya, about the newspaper.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed it.

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	11. Send This Slut Away pt 5

"There's got to be something we can do!"

Hikaru was still seething over being drenched in water, and he and Kaoru had pulled Kyouya aside to talk to him about the Newspaper Club. There was no sense in talking to Tamaki about it; he wasn't too bothered by it all, and would never, ever dream of retaliating against another club.

"Everything they publish is based on pure speculation," Kyouya said, flipping through his notebook. "I can't pin them on false news. No one's reputation is being ruined-"

"Haruhi's is," Kaoru pointed out.

"And she isn't a member of the Host Club, nor does she care." Kyouya shrugged. "There's little I can do until they actually present something as the truth, or attack one of our members, neither of which they are doing."

"So what are you saying?" Hikaru asked. That wasn't good enough for him, that they couldn't do anything. Haruhi was their friend, after all.

"We have to wait until they slip up."

* * *

Haruhi's prediction concerning study hall, homework and Tamaki came true. Try as she might, Tamaki was an attention fiend and wanted her to spend more time talking or cuddling or whatever with him instead of getting her work done. And, she could try to ignore him, but he was just incredibly persistent.

Or, he'd retreat to his corner of woe, and then it would be up to her to get him out of it. Sometimes she toyed with the idea of just waiting until the end of study hall to cheer him up, but her conscience got in the way of that.

And so, the time that she desperately needed to do her homework was gone. After all, most nights she had work, and she also had chores to do, leaving very little time for homework. She had to stay up later to work on it all, which made for a very cranky Haruhi during school and work.

Haruhi let her books fall onto the table with a thud. She wasn't in the best of moods, having gotten very little sleep in the past two days. Today, however, she was determined to spend the entire study hall getting her homework done so she could get a decent night's sleep tonight, and she'd be damned if Tamaki got in the way of that.

As if right on cue, just as Haruhi was opening her textbook, Tamaki appeared at her side. "Haruhi, let's-"

"No." Her voice was firm, and she didn't even bother to look up from the book. Now, what page was the homework on….?

"Ha-Haruhi?"

Tamaki sounded upset, and she felt bad and almost caved, to look up at him. Almost. She kept her eyes focused solely on the work in front of her.

"Haruhiii, let's go somewhere more private…."

That had been his plea lately. He felt that, since he didn't get to see her during her job or during club hours, study hall should be their designated make out time. And, sometimes, Haruhi agreed with him. Just not now.

"I have a lot of homework to do," Haruhi said, finding the first question, and beginning to work on it.

"But I never get to see you!"

"Tamaki," Haruhi said, finally looking up at him. "I have a lot of homework tonight that I need to start working on now."

He was giving her the puppy dog eyes. "Just do it after school," Tamaki pleaded.

"I can't; I have work."

Tamaki groaned, sinking into a seat beside her. "You always have work, and I never get to see you because of it!"

"I know," Haruhi sighed. "But I have to work, and I have to get my schoolwork done now because of it."

"Quit your job!"

Haruhi looked at him like he was crazy, and he was looking back at her like he had just come up with the most brilliant of brilliant ideas. "What?"

"Quit your job; people do it all the time, and that way there will be enough time for us to spend together, and you'll have time to do your homework!"

That sounded wonderful; less stress on Haruhi's part. However, it just wasn't possible. "I can't. I need to work," Haruhi said, returning to her homework.

"Why? You never needed to before."

It was a moment before Haruhi responded. She was debating telling him the truth. Yes, Kyouya would be mad at her, but it would clear up so much, and maybe would make him back off a little.

Setting her pencil down, Haruhi looked at Tamaki. "I have to work to pay off the debt to the club."

Tamaki merely blinked. "But Kyouya said you'd paid it off."

Haruhi shook her head. "No; according to Kyouya, my presence was upsetting the guests. So, I now I have to work, and give my paychecks to the club."

Tamaki's face was unreadable. He seemed a little bewildered, a little angry, and a little hurt.

"I can't quit my job, and I need this time to get my homework done," Haruhi finished.

Tamaki just nodded weakly. "I…I'll give you some time to work." He stood, kissed the top of her head, and walked out of the library.

* * *

"You said she had paid off the debt!"

Kyouya and Tamaki were in a vacant classroom; Tamaki had called Kyouya and demanded they meet up somewhere private to talk, and, hearing the urgency and anger in his voice, Kyouya felt this was important enough for him to be dragged away from his studies and had agreed. He'd been in the classroom all ready, and told Tamaki where he was, and simply waited for him to arrive.

He hadn't expected Tamaki to come in angry at him.

"It was the best course of action for the club, Tamaki," Kyouya said, sighing. He shut his notebooks. "Had I suggested that she quit the club, you would have made her stay."

"What's wrong with her staying in the club?" Tamaki demanded. He was leaning over Kyouya's desk, his palms resting on it, supporting him.

"She was upsetting the other girls," Kyouya said evenly. "Girls get jealous easily, Tamaki, and with her around, it was a constant reminder that she was your girlfriend, and that the club is all an act. We were losing guests."

Tamaki stared at him hard. Kyouya was glad for his well trained stone expression; he was actually a little nervous at how angry Tamaki was. Tamaki rarely got mad, and when he did, it was over petty things, and he really wasn't that mad. He was just annoyed. This, however, was anger, and Kyouya wasn't exactly happy that it was directed at him. It wouldn't be good to show that though.

"The club exists to make girls happy," Kyouya reminded him. "Girls are not happy when Haruhi is around. I made the best decision for the club."

At last, Tamaki spoke. "Next time, let me make the decisions. I am the club president, and it is up to me to decide these things."

Kyouya nodded.

"How much of her debt is left?"

Kyouya flipped open his notebook, found the page that held the sum, and told him it. Tamaki appeared to be considering something for a moment.

"Clear it away," he said. "I'll write a check for that amount."

Kyouya blinked. "Why?"

"Because all Haruhi does now is work, and it's making her cranky," Tamaki said, pouting. He sat down at the desk in front of Kyouya, his body turned to face him. At least he wasn't angry anymore. "I can't believe you both _lied_ to me," he muttered, the pout growing.

"I told her not to tell you," Kyouya said.

"Still," Tamaki mumbled. He looked up at Kyouya, hurt easily read on his face. "We're _friends_. Friends don't lie to each other."

Kyouya nodded. An apology would be best. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

Tamaki smiled. "Great! Kyouya, do you want to-"

"I've got some work I have to do," Kyouya said quickly, cutting him off. He turned his attention back to his notebook. "I'll talk to you at the club."

Tamaki lingered a moment, then stalked off, grumbling about how everyone was too busy to do something fun with him.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this.

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	12. Send This Slut Away pt 6

The next day, Haruhi was happily at work during study hall, sure that Tamaki would know not to disturb her from now on. She'd been able to get the majority of her homework done during school yesterday, and thus had gotten a well deserved full night's sleep.

She was in a considerably better mood now because of it.

"Haaar-uhi!"

She let out a groan. Tamaki _hadn't_ understood that she needed to be left on her own to get her work done. Looking up at him as he walked over to her, she said, "Tamaki…."

"I have great news!" Tamaki said, sitting down beside her, grinning like a madman.

_That you'll leave so I can get my homework done?_ "What?" Haruhi asked.

"Your debt is completely gone!"

Well. That was good news; a bit shocking, but good news just the same. But…. "How?" Haruhi asked, slightly bewildered, though smiling from the news. Kyouya wouldn't ever just erase her debt.

"I paid off the remainder of it."

Her smile dropped. He did _what?_

"Now you can quit your job and we can spend more time together!

"Why?"

"Huh?" Tamaki seemed confused by her question. "You…don't need to work to pay off the debt, that's why you can-"

"No, why did you pay it off?" Haruhi asked, trying her best not to get mad. Why on earth would he pay off _her_ debt?

Again, Tamaki didn't seem to understand why or what she was asking. "You didn't have the money to without w-"

That was all Haruhi needed to hear. "That was _my_ debt, Tamaki, not yours. I have to pay it back. I can take care of _my_ debts."

"But now you don't have to worry about it anymore!" Tamaki said, looking like she was crazy for not thanking him endlessly. "It wasn't that much-"

Haruhi's eyes went wide as she cut him off for the third time. She knew exactly how much was left for her to pay off. "Not that much?!" She stared at him, then turned back down at her homework, muttering, "Stupid rich bastards, of course he doesn't think it's that much…."

Tamaki moved, trying to get into her line of sight. "I don't even get a thank you for doing this?"

"No," Haruhi answered flatly. She really was not happy that he had done this. She knew what she had to do, and she took care of things herself! She didn't need someone to help her out, not with this!

"Why? I just helped you out! How can you be so cold?"

Haruhi looked up at him. He was getting louder, as it happened to be when he got upset. She didn't feel like dealing with this today. "I _like_ doing things on my own," she said, glaring at him.

They were gaining an audience now. Haruhi tried to ignore it.

"You'd rather I never help, even in your hour of need?" he asked dramatically.

"Exactly," Haruhi said firmly.

Tamaki clearly did not like that response. "I'm your boyfriend! I'm supposed to take care of you!"

"I don't need to be taken care of!" Haruhi snapped back. That was a total chauvinistic male thing to say. She had clearly established, time after time, that she could handle things _on her own_. She didn't need a man to coddle her and take care of everything.

"Then don't come to me asking for help!" Tamaki growled out, before turning on his heal and pushing his way through the crowd that had formed around them.

"I won't!" Haruhi slammed her books shut with a huff. She'd never be able to concentrate now, not with how angry she was. Looking around, Haruhi decided to gather up her books, and leave; she was attracting not very many happy looks from those around her.

* * *

Akira was not happy. Not at all.

It was almost winter, and they still had nothing on Tamaki. Yes, there were the few times that they caused him some anguish through Haruhi (Akira had been very pleased to find out that Tamaki had actually believed that Haruhi had been cheating on him in one instance), but none of it was lasting. He was still…untouchable.

It was extremely infuriating, to have to move so slowly.

The club had got word of a fight between Haruhi and Tamaki; the next paper that was published would run an article saying they had broken up. That would keep things shaky between the two of them for a few days at most, upset Tamaki even more, but it wasn't enough.

Akira needed something…something more concrete. And he would be damned if he wasn't going to find it.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this; yes, I know, it's a bit short. But things will speed up soon, and the chapters will lengthen again.

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	13. And The Winter Is Coming On Fast pt 1

"_And the winter is coming on fast  
__Ready to kill…."_

* * *

Tamaki had been the one to apologize first. Though, he had first sought her out to make sure that they hadn't broken up, as the rumors that were flying around school were saying.

It was one of Haruhi's free periods, not one of Tamaki's. He had cut class, to find her, alone in a different library than she usually went to during study halls.

"Hey," he said quietly, sitting down across from her. It had been three days since they'd spoken, since he'd last seen her. Tamaki didn't like it, avoiding her, as she was surely avoiding him.

She looked up at him, setting her pencil down. "Hi," she replied just as softly.

"We…we aren't…broken up, are we?" Tamaki asked hesitantly.

Haruhi blinked in surprise. "I don't recall us breaking up. We just had a fight."

Tamaki let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure how relationships worked, most of the time, this being his first one. When he'd heard the rumors, he'd been afraid that they might be true.

"Good," he said, with a slight smile. "I…uh…didn't mean to get you mad." He didn't need to say when; they both knew when. "I was just trying to help you out."

Haruhi nodded. "I know." She let out a sigh. "I know. I just like to do things on my own."

Tamaki nodded, standing up, and walking around to where she was. Sitting slightly on the table, he said, "I know. You're my miss independent." He smiled down at her, and Haruhi smiled softly back.

With that smile, Tamaki knew that everything was okay. "My miss independent," he whispered again, and kissed her forehead.

Everything was going to be okay.

* * *

And, now that everything was back to normal with Haruhi, Tamaki was free to concentrate on the upcoming Winter Ball.

The Winter Ball was a big event for the Host Club; it was the last big social gathering before the school was let out for winter break. The girls of the school looked forward to it every year, for a chance to dance with any one of the hosts.

There was a lot of planning to do for the ball; food, decoration, music, hiring staff to clean up afterwards…. A lot of planning for Kyouya and Tamaki. Mostly Kyouya, with Tamaki to tell him whether he liked what Kyouya was doing.

They were in Kyouya's bedroom, going over the plans. Kyouya was sitting on his bed, typing away at his laptop, while Tamaki was lying on his back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

"So you want the windows frosted, tiny lights decorating the ceiling like icicles, and white roses at the tables?" Kyouya verified.

"Yes," Tamaki said.

"And you want a buffet of hors d'oeuvres, as well as a team of the kitchen staff serving cappuccinos, espressos and tea?"

"Yep."

"And the band you want is…?"

"The one that played at that concert we went to, at the Concerto's Ball."

"Ah, that one." Kyouya went typing away.

"This ball is going to be so much fun," Tamaki said happily, and Kyouya grunted in reply; he took it was a grunt of agreement. Everything will be perfect. Kyouya will ensure everything falls into place, and it will be the best ball they've ever had. Tamaki really couldn't wait to see Haruhi dressed up, looking her absolute prettiest.

"I think Haruhi will be the prettiest girl there." Tamaki grinned.

"You really think it's a good idea for Haruhi to go?"

Tamaki looked at Kyouya in surprise. "Why not?"

Kyouya never looked up from his laptop. "For the same reason she doesn't come to the Host Club; the other guests wouldn't…appreciate her being there."

"But…Haruhi has to come," Tamaki said, sitting up. "This is a schoolwide event. I _want_ her to be there." He shouldn't have to miss out on normal dating things- going to dances with his girlfriend- just because Kyouya thought that some girls wouldn't like it.

Kyouya grunted in response again, and Tamaki took it that it was just fine for Haruhi to go.

* * *

Haruhi was at the local mall with the twins. When Tamaki had told her about the Winter Ball, Haruhi hadn't been very excited. It meant she had to go out for a fancy dress that she would probably only wear once. And, as she wasn't very good at picking out girly things, she decided to ask Hikaru and Kaoru to help her. After all, their mother was a fashion designer, and it couldn't hurt to have their input.

"But Haruhi, these clothes are so…unoriginal," Hikaru whined. They were in a department store in the mall, going through the racks.

"This is all I can afford," Haruhi reminded them. She had continued working, despite not having to pay off the debt, and had enough money saved to buy a decent dress- no, gown, she reminded herself. Hikaru and Kaoru had corrected her on that several times all ready, and they'd only been looking for twenty minutes.

"There's not much to choose from," Kaoru commented. "They're all…not good enough."

"I don't need anything really fancy," Haruhi sighed. They were set on dressing her up like a doll, when all she needed was to just look…decent.

"Oh! I think I've found one!" Hikaru cried from two racks away. "The material isn't any spectacular, but this could look beautiful on you."

Haruhi blushed; she never thought of herself as beautiful, or unattractive. It just never…occurred her to do so.

Kaoru had appeared at his twin's side. "Yes, that one's good!"

Thrusting the dress her way, they began pushing her towards the dressing rooms.

* * *

Ooooh, what does her dress look like? You'll have to wait and see….

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	14. And The Winter Is Coming On Fast pt 2

It was the evening of the Winter Ball, and all the hosts plus Haruhi were in the ballroom, with ten minutes to go before the doors opened for the girls. Haruhi would have come in with the rest of the guests, but Tamaki had insisted upon picking her up at her apartment and taking her to the ball. He needed to be there an hour beforehand to make sure everything was set and running, and so, Haruhi had to go early with him.

Haruhi hadn't felt exactly comfortable in her dress. It was a strapless number, pale blue, and it went down to the floor. There were a few embellishments at the bust and hips, which helped with her figure (or rather, lack there of). Her father helped her with her make-up; Haruhi would have rather gone without, but he had insisted upon it.

"You're going to a ball," Ryoji had said, whipping out his make-up bag. "You _have_ to wear make-up."

"Fine," Haruhi had said with a sigh, trusting her father to make sure she didn't end up having too much make-up on.

And, he'd done a good job; her eyes were smoky, but still somewhat natural. They weren't too heavy, thankfully, and her lips were only slightly pinker than usual.

"You look so pretty!" Ryoji had cried when he'd finished. "If only you'd grow your hair out longer…." He touched her hair.

"It's so much easier this length," Haruhi had said, brushing him off. She glanced at the time. Where was-

There was a knock at the door, answering as to where Tamaki was. Haruhi stepped towards the door, but her father jumped in front of her. "You can't open the door," he hissed before opening the door.

There Tamaki stood, looking extremely handsome in a white suit (the boy just didn't seem to like to wear black) and…slightly nervous.

"Hello Mr. Fujioka," Tamaki said, putting on a smile as he stepped inside. "Is Haruhi-" He suddenly stopped, seeing her. He stared, and Haruhi shifted, slightly uncomfortable with the way he was staring; she wished he'd say something.

"Hi," Haruhi said, smiling nervously. Why wasn't he saying anything?

"H-hey…" Tamaki had a strange smile now, as he stepped closer to her. "You look…great," he said, his voice rather breathy. He kissed her cheek. "Are you, ah, ready to go?"

"You can't leave yet!" Ryoji had somehow come up with a camera, and insisted upon taking photograph and photograph of the two of them posing together. It wasn't until fifteen minutes later, with a phone call from Kyouya demanding to know where they were that Ryoji finally let them leave.

"I'm sorry about that," Haruhi said, blushing, as they road in his limo to the school.

"It's okay," Tamaki said. He was holding her hand, still staring at her the way he had when he'd first come in.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You look absolutely beautiful," Tamaki said, grinning at her. He kissed her cheek, and then again on her lips. "So beautiful…."

Haruhi couldn't help but blush bright red at that, but returned the kiss regardless. "Thank you."

Tamaki attempted to turn the back of the limo into a make out session then, but they had reached the school, and Haruhi had to convince him otherwise.

Haruhi had hung in the background while the rest of the club members took care of the last minute things, meaning, Kyouya took care of last minute things and the rest of the club was running around, having fun. She smiled, watching them all. Truth be told, she did miss being a part of the club; she missed spending time with all of them.

Kyouya had given her clear instructions though, to dance as little as possible with Tamaki, to keep the girls from getting jealous. Also, when the doors opened, she was to go off to the side, to give the hosts time to welcome everyone.

Haruhi didn't mind though; she would get a chance to see all her friends and spend time with them all, regardless.

* * *

Hikaru wasn't able to take it anymore.

When he and Kaoru had gone gown shopping with her, and he had seen her when she'd tried on that gown, he knew, he knew that he couldn't stand it, that he would never be able to stand seeing her with Tamaki anymore.

She was just too perfect for him, for Hikaru, not for Tamaki. Couldn't she see that? They were perfect for _each other_. No one else.

And so, Hikaru and Kaoru came up with a plan. She'd see, he was sure, if he showed her exactly what she was missing, being with Tamaki. And so, tonight, Hikaru would get her alone, and tell her, exactly how he felt. Exactly.

The ball began, and Hikaru played the part of a happy host, dancing with every girl that seemed like she would want to dance with him. But, inside, he was anxious, waiting for the signal from Kaoru.

He kept an eye on Haruhi throughout the dance; she danced with each of the members (with Tamaki more than once), though her dance with Hunnie was slightly ridiculous to watch. He was waiting, waiting for Kaoru….

There. Kaoru had caught his eye, winked, and then approached Haruhi clearly asking her to dance. Smiling to himself, Hikaru excused himself from the girl he'd been dancing with. Now, it was time to act.

* * *

Haruhi was greatly enjoying herself. While she didn't spend the entire night dancing, she had gotten a few dances in, enjoying a slow dance with Tamaki, as well as with Mori and Kyouya. She had done her best to dance with Hunnie, which was thankfully during a fast song. She would never have been able to dance a slow one with him.

Surprisingly enough, Mori had been the best dancer out of all of them.

Haruhi had been taking a breather, slowly sipping one of the cappuccinos that were being served when Kaoru came up to her.

"Want to dance?" he asked, offering her his hand.

Haruhi smiled, setting her cappuccino down on a nearby table. "Sure," she said, despite the fact that her feet were beginning to hurt. She wasn't used to wearing heals, not to mention dancing in them. Taking his hand, she let him lead her to the other side of the dance floor, near the doors that led to the outside, not into the school. It was odd, going all the way over here to dance, but Haruhi decided not to question it. The twins were a little strange at times.

"Hikaru really did find the perfect dress for you," Kaoru said as they began to dance.

"Thanks," Haruhi said, blushing slightly. The club members had kept complimenting her on the dress all night- even Mori had, though all he had done was whisper in her ear while dancing, "Very pretty."

Still; that was a lot coming from Mori.

"Are you getting tired?" Kaoru asked. "You've been dancing quite a bit."

"Not as much as you," Haruhi pointed out. "I've gotten a chance to rest; you haven't."

"I'm doing fine," Kaoru laughed. "If slow dancing with girls wears me out, I'm probably in trouble."

Haruhi smiled. "You have more stamina than I do then," she said.

"Just rest against me then." He was pressing the small of her back, forcing her closer. Though surprised, Haruhi went with it, letting her head come to rest against his shoulder.

This was a much more comfortable way to dance, Haruhi had to admit.

"Doesn't it bother you?" Kaoru asked suddenly.

"Does what?"

"To see him, dancing with other girls."

Haruhi knew which 'him' he was talking about. "Not really," she said offhandedly. "He's doing his job as a host."

Kaoru made a guttural noise in response, that Haruhi wasn't sure how to take.

The song ended, and Kaoru let go of her, stepping back. "Thanks for the dance," he said, before walking to the crowd of girls that were surely awaiting a dance from him.

Haruhi stood for a moment, trying to figure out what to do with herself, now that she was so far from the refreshments that she dearly wanted to try again. She could wander over through the crowd of girls, though she didn't really want to for two reasons. Her feet were sore, and she didn't exactly want to go through the girls; ever since the publication of the article that said she was cheating on Tamaki with Hikaru, a few choice girls vocalized their disapproval of her dating Tamaki.

"Hey Haruhi."

She turned around; Hikaru was by one of the exits, strangely enough with her coat in hand.

"Hi," she said, hoping he wouldn't ask her to dance. She really wasn't in the mood for another one; she just wanted to rest for a while.

"Want to go outside for some fresh air?" he asked, and Haruhi smiled. That sounded wonderful.

"Okay."

He offered her coat, and she took it, putting it on as Hikaru opened the door for her. Haruhi stepped outside, happily breathing in the cooler air. It was softly snowing now; it had to have started not long ago, as it wasn't even sticking yet. It was a bit refreshing, and she was glad that Hikaru they go outside; Haruhi loved snow.

"This is so pretty," Haruhi said happily, looking around at the school grounds through the softly falling snow.

"It is," Hikaru said from behind her.

"I haven't seen you much all night." Haruhi turned around to look at him. "You must've been busy dancing the entire time."

"Yep," Hikaru said, and he didn't seem happy about it. "I wanted to get a dance in with you though; but this is nicer…. Much more peaceful."

Haruhi nodded. That was true; everything was much quieter when snow was falling. She looked up, at the snow that was illuminated through the lights that were set over all the doorways. It really was beautiful, albeit cold. She shoved her hands in the pockets of her coat.

"You're cold?" Hikaru stepped closer to her.

"A little," Haruhi admitted, and suddenly she found herself wrapped tightly in Hikaru's arms.

"I'll warm you," he whispered in her ear. Something about this was starting to feel a little…off. Like this should be Tamaki doing this, not Hikaru. It seemed like something a boyfriend would do, not a friend. But, grateful for the warmth his arms were bringing her, she kept her mouth shut.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, as Haruhi warmed up.

"Haruhi," Hikaru said, making her look up at him. He said nothing else for a moment, then closed the short distance between them, and kissed her.

* * *

CLIFF HANGER!

This is so much easier for me to write; Hikaru and Haruhi make sense to me, not Tamaki and Haruhi.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	15. And The Winter is Coming On Fast pt 3

At first, Haruhi had been too stunned to move.

But then, as soon as she regained control of her thoughts, she him hard away.

"What are you doing?" she snapped, wiping her mouth, as though to wipe away the kiss like it had never happened.

He was staring at her, stunned, as though he couldn't believe that had been her reaction to his kiss. "I-I'm sorry," Hikaru said quickly, suddenly doing his best not to look her in the eye.

Haruhi stared at him for a moment then said, as firmly as she could, "I'm going inside." She turned, heading to the doors to the ballroom. She couldn't believe this had happened- why had this happened? Hikaru knew she wasn't single. What had he been thinking?

"Wait, I'm not sorry!"

Haruhi whirled around to look at him. "_What_?"

He was staring at her, hard, a determined and almost desperate look in his eyes. "I take it back. I'm not sorry I kissed you," he said again. "I- I've wanted to do that for so long, and I'm not sorry that I did."

"Hikaru." Haruhi pursed her lips, trying to figure out the right thing to say. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but…damn! He shouldn't have done that, he definitely shouldn't have done that! "I'm dating Tamaki. You know that."

At Tamaki's name, anger came over Hikaru's face briefly. "It should be me," he said first with determination, and then softer, as a plea. "It should be me."

"Hikaru-"

"Why not me, Haruhi?" Hikaru continued. "Why- why _him_ and not me?"

"It…." God, was he really doing this? "I don't have those feelings for you. You're my friend, and I care about you, but it's different with him."

"But…." He looked so desperate now, as though everything depended on this, on her dating him. "I love you, Haruhi."

She didn't know what to do. How on earth could she possibly _not_ hurt him now? "I'm sorry, Hikaru. I just don't feel the same way."

Hikaru looked as though he might cry for a moment, and then turned angrily away, putting his back to her. "Whatever," she heard him mutter.

Haruhi lingered outside for only a moment, before going back inside. Comforting could only hurt him more now. As she walked in through the doors, Kaoru came running past her, no doubt going to find Hikaru. She didn't know how he knew that Hikaru wasn't all right, but figured it to most likely be a twin thing.

* * *

Kaoru had felt it, the moment Haruhi had shoved Hikaru away. He'd been dancing with one of the girls that tended to designate him and Hikaru when suddenly there had been a tug at his heart, and he had nearly cried out in the anguish he was feeling from Hikaru. But, it was apparently easily readable on his face, as the girl asked, "Are you feeling all right…Kaoru?"

It was clear that her question was not only about his health, but also asking which twin he was. Kaoru, knowing going outside before Haruhi came back in would only make the situation Hikaru was in worse, only gave the girl a reassuring smile. "Yes," he said, though he was incredibly worried. Haruhi, it seemed, had rejected Hikaru.

That simple answer had apparently been enough for the girl (really, what a nitwit; surely his expression had been worth more questioning than _that_), as she returned the smile.

The moments passed, and the pain only intensified, until Kaoru, letting out a small gasp, as politely as he could under the current circumstances, excused himself from the dance, and took off toward the doors that Hikaru and Haruhi had gone out through. Screw whether Haruhi was there or not; his brother needed him.

Luckily enough, he passed Haruhi, who was heading inside and not looking particularly happy herself, as he ran out. He only vaguely took in that it was snowing as he raced to his brother's side, wrapping his arms tightly around him without a word.

_I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, Hikaru_.

Hikaru's body was shaking with the tears he was holding back, and Kaoru found that he, too, was now fighting back tears.

_Why? Why; I don't understand it! Why not me, why not me…?_

Kaoru hugged his brother tighter. _I don't know. I'm so sorry. I'm here. I'm here. I'm sorry._

_I want to go home. Let's go home. I can't- I can't see her…with him. I can't, I can't-_

_We'll go home_, Kaoru silently promised. _We'll go home now._

* * *

Kaoru came inside again; Hikaru didn't. Haruhi watched him from a seat she had taken immediately after she had come inside. She was waiting for Tamaki to be free; she desperately needed to be with him.

Kaoru had come in, going directly to Kyouya, who surprisingly wasn't dancing at the moment. They spoke for a moment or two, before Kaoru ran back out to the door to the outside. He didn't come in again after that.

Haruhi sighed, letting her chin rest in her hand. She hadn't expected the Winter Ball to be as eventful as it had been, and this song was taking too damn long for it to be over. She _really_ needed Tamaki at the moment.

At long last, the song ended, and Haruhi made her way quickly over to Tamaki, cutting in front of a girl that was looking hopeful for a dance. Haruhi ignored the angry looks she surely was getting, and wrapped her arms around him, her head buried in his chest.

"Haruhi!" Tamaki cried out in surprise, his arms naturally settling around her. "Are you- is everything all right?"

"I just…want to be with you now," Haruhi said. It wouldn't be a good idea to tell Tamaki. That, she was sure of. Nothing was going to come of that stunt Hikaru had pulled, and that's all that mattered; there was no use getting Tamaki upset over it.

"Aw, you're getting jealous," Tamaki teased lightheartedly. "You hate seeing me with all these other girls, don't you?"

Haruhi didn't respond, only hugged him tighter. She was not looking forward to seeing Hikaru again- whenever that was. With the break coming up, she had no idea when that would be.

Tamaki ran a hand through her hair, playing with it. "You know you're the only girl for me."

"I know," Haruhi whispered in response. And he was the only guy for her.

* * *

Tamaki looked around the ballroom. It was empty, save for the remaining hosts, and Haruhi. At first, Tamaki had been extremely unhappy when he found out that the twins had left partially through the ball, until Kyouya explained that Hikaru had developed a stomachache, and needed to go home; naturally, Kaoru had gone home with him.

Haruhi was currently dozing in of the chairs, her head pillowed in her arms that were resting on a table. Apparently this evening had been too much fun for her; it was quite cute.

Likewise, Hunnie was fast asleep _on_ a table that Mori was sitting at.

"Another successful event!" Tamaki said happily to Kyouya, who was instructing the cleaning crew on exactly what had to be taken care of immediately, and what could wait until the next day.

"Mmhmm," Kyouya agreed, before turning his attention back to the crew. "Make sure all props end up in the Host Club's storage; the left over food can be thrown away…."

Kyouya seemed to have everything under control. Smiling to himself, Tamaki looked to Mori. "You and Hunnie can leave now, if you want."

Mori nodded, stood, and scooped up his sleeping cousin, heading towards the doors.

Tamaki walked over to Haruhi, and shook her shoulder gently. "Wake up, sleeping beauty," he said softly.

She opened one eye, looking up at him sleepily. "It's over?" she asked, yawning slightly.

Tamaki nodded. "It's time to go."

Haruhi nodded in response, yawning again as she sat up and stretched slightly before standing. Tamaki couldn't help but smile as he put his arm around her waist, guiding the way out. She was just so cute when she was tired.

"What time is it?" Haruhi mumbled as they walked to the front steps, where a limo for them would be waiting.

"After midnight," Tamaki said.

"Mmm…. I hope Dad isn't worried; I thought I'd be home before now." She yawned again.

During the ride back to her apartment, Haruhi fell asleep again, leaning on Tamaki, and Tamaki enjoyed every moment of it. Haruhi was just so adorable, and she was truly the perfect girlfriend.

* * *

Akira had sent more photographers than was probably necessary to the Winter Ball; he assigned at least two photographers per host, and had four on Haruhi. If anything interesting at all happened, he wanted it caught on film (or pixels, or whatever the digital equivalent was). And, he made it crystal clear that he wanted all photos sent to him immediately after the ball was over. He did not want to wait another day or two to find out if something noteworthy had happened.

Shortly after midnight, the emails came in from the various photographers. Mori's, Tamaki's, Hunnie's and Kyouya's were particularly boring; the only interesting parts were the ones of them dancing with Haruhi. Mori's was especially intriguing. The one of him whispering something in her ear could be used against her, easily.

Then, the ones from those assigned to the Hitachiins and Haruhi came in, the emails all labeled with various ways of stating that there was something worth looking at in them. Akira greatly enjoyed the one of her dancing with…one of the twins. It was impossible to tell which one, but they way she was dancing with him, so close, it would certainly enrage Tamaki.

But, nothing could have prepared Akira for the Holy Grail of all photos; the one of Haruhi kissing one of the twins.

Akira had literally spat his coffee out all over himself when he saw it. He couldn't believe it. As far as he knew, Tamaki and Haruhi were still dating, and this…oh, this could utterly destroy Tamaki.

Yes, the photographs that followed clearly showed the Haruhi hadn't exactly wanted to be kissed by the twin, but that hardly mattered.

Akira couldn't wait for the spring semester to start up, so he could print out this lovely picture, and an equally unsettling article along with it.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this.

Please leave constructive criticsms.


	16. She's The One Who Began It pt 1

_"At the end of the day she's the one who began it..."_

_

* * *

_

Haruhi called Hikaru the day after the Winter Ball. She needed to talk with him about what had happened, and whether or not he planned on letting Tamaki know (she certainly didn't think it was within their best interests to).

However, something odd kept happening. Haruhi tried calling him three times, and each time, the line went dead after the second ring. It was almost as if (and surely was because) Hikaru was answering and hanging up immediately.

Frustrated, Haruhi then called Kaoru, hoping to reach him through his brother.

"He…doesn't really want to talk," Kaoru said when Haruhi had asked to talk to Hikaru. He sounded extremely hesitant to be talking to her.

"It's really important," Haruhi said with a sigh. "Tell him it's about what happened last night."

"I know what happened. He doesn't want to talk."

Of course Kaoru would know what happened; Hikaru would have told him. "I just…need to know if he's going to tell Tamaki that it happened."

Then, with Kaoru as the middle man speaking for his brother, Haruhi and Hikaru agreed that it would be best for everyone, and for the club, if Tamaki were to never find out.

The rest of the two week long break from school passed by without much event, save for when her father attempted to ground her.

Really, Ryoji had enough reason to; even Haruhi admitted to that. She had stayed at Tamaki's rather late one night, and didn't get home until past three in the morning. Haruhi had meant to come back at a reasonable hour (i.e., before midnight) but she and Tamaki had gotten carried away with some…extracurricular activities, and boy, time sure did fly when you were having fun.

Haruhi had no idea where Tamaki learned to kiss like that, but she certainly wasn't complaining.

Being the responsible young adult that she was, Haruhi had been planning on going in to her dad's room and waking him up to let him know she was home. He certainly had been worried, to come home from his work at the bar to find the apartment completely vacant; he'd called her phone about ten times, but Haruhi had put it on silent, so she and Tamaki wouldn't be disturbed during the movie they had originally started watching before Tamaki got other ideas of what they could be doing.

But, as it turns out, she didn't need to wake up Ryoji. He was wide awake and leaning against the kitchen counter, staring at her as she walked in.

"Hey dad," Haruhi said quietly, sure she was going to be yelled at. She wasn't disappointed.

"Haruhi! Where on earth have you been? I called you so many times and you never answered your phone!" Her father cried out as soon as she shut the door behind her. "I was ready to phone the police-"

"I was at Tamaki's; my phone was on silent," Haruhi explained. "We lost track of time. I'm sorry."

"You didn't think to call on your way back?!"

Yeah; that had been a dumb move. She should have called as soon as she realized the time. "I…thought you might've been asleep. I didn't want to wake you with a phone call."

"So you were just going to sneak in and go to bed, without even telling me you were home?" He was shaking his head.

"No." This wasn't good. Haruhi was sure, for the first time in her life, she was really in trouble with her dad. "I was going to wake you up when I got home…."

Ryoji just stared at her for a moment then sighed. "Call next time. Don't let me worry like that."

Haruhi nodded, beginning to get hopeful. Maybe she wouldn't be punished….

"Go to b- what's that on your neck?"

"Huh?" Haruhi's hand immediately flew to her neck, unsure as to what he was talking about. Her father stepped closer, and then she felt it; a sore spot, where Tamaki had gotten overzealous at one point. Oh no oh no; did she have a-

"Is that a _hickey_?!"

Haruhi was promptly grounded for the rest of the break.

For two days, Haruhi did what she normally did at home; her chores, and homework. She talked with Tamaki on the phone occasionally (not as often as Tamaki would have clearly liked, as he was calling her every few hours, which Haruhi found to be a little much), but for the most part, her days were occupied by keeping the house neat and orderly.

The third day of her grounding, Ryoji let her off.

"You're a good kid," he'd said. "Just…stay a good kid, okay?"

Haruhi didn't completely understand what he was talking about, but she'd smiled and nodded anyway, happy to be free to leave the house again. She'd really wanted to get to the library….

* * *

When school started up again, the very first thing Hikaru and Kaoru did was look to see if there was a new issue of the school's paper out. They did this at the beginning of every week, so they could stay on top of whatever bullshit nonsense was being published.

Hikaru had frozen when he'd seen the front page. This…this was not good. There was a photo of him and Haruhi at the Winter Ball, caught in a lip lock under the headline, _HARUHI CAUGHT CHEATING_.

"Shit," Kaoru whispered, and Hikaru had to agree whole-heartedly. Shit.

He wasn't too worried about Tamaki finding out; he never looked at the papers. But, Haruhi…. Haruhi was certainly going to receive the bunt end of a whole lot of hate from the girls in the school.

He was still mad, and still hurt by her rejection, and as much as he hated himself for it, he still cared about her immensely. And she was in for a world of hurt, he was sure.

All throughout their classes together, Hikaru wanted to warn her, or to explain what was going on with the other girls, but his pride kept him from doing so. He didn't speak to her the whole day; similarly, Kaoru said very little to her.

* * *

"You tramp."

Haruhi looked up from her books in shock. It was the first day of class after winter break, and she had taken up her usual spot in the library to get her homework done. School had just ended for the day, and, as Haruhi didn't have work, she had planned on finishing her homework up here, while Tamaki was busy with the club, and then the two of them would go home together.

She had hardly begun her physic's assignment when someone said…that.

It was a girl, one Haruhi had never seen before in her life. That in itself wasn't an odd fact; Ouran Academy was a large school, after all. But…what on earth was this girl whom Haruhi didn't even know doing, calling her a tramp?

"Excuse me?" Haruhi said; maybe she had misheard this girl….

She was on the other side of the table from Haruhi, glaring daggers at her, a newspaper held tightly in one hand. "You tramp," the girl spat out. Nope; Haruhi had heard her just fine the first time. "You-you just keep playing with him, whore. If you don't even love him, why are you still with Tamaki! You stupid _slut_!"

Haruhi blinked in response, completely caught offhand at this sudden verbal attack from a complete stranger.

"I…have no idea what you're talking about," Haruhi said as calmly as she could, but she had the sudden feeling that this had something to do with the Newspaper Club….

Girls, all day, had been especially cold towards her; Haruhi, in her usual way, had done her best to simply ignore it all, brushing it off as everyone simply being grumpy that they had to be back in school once more. But, from this attack, and how the girl was holding the newspaper like she wanted to rip it apart, Haruhi was sure that something slanderous had been printed against her.

"Just go and fuck Hikaru and get it over with; leave Tamaki alone! You hurt him enough you-you _cunt_!" The girl chucked the newspaper at Haruhi; in its rather crumpled state, it had flown right to her, and Haruhi caught it, knowing this was something she'd needed to see.

Ignoring that last name she'd been called (a hard task in itself; Haruhi absolutely detested the c-word, and to be called it was a low blow to her ego), she smoothed the paper out, and instantly felt sick at what she saw.

There, on the front page, taking up most of it, was a photo from the Winter Ball. A photo of when Hikaru kissed her. Haruhi didn't need to read the article to know what it was about; from the past lies that the paper had posted concerning her and Hikaru and this girl's reaction to it, it was clear that the story was saying that she was cheating on Tamaki again. And this time, it had a photo that Haruhi could not just brush off; if Tamaki saw it….

Oh god. What if Tamaki_ had_ seen it?

Now, Haruhi wasn't one to swear (calling the boys rich bastards certainly didn't count), but she felt that this situation did merit it. "Shit."

Leaving her belongings where they were, Haruhi stood, taking off out of the library, ignoring the yells from the girl behind her. She needed to get to Tamaki as soon as possible, to make sure he hadn't seen it yet, and talk to him about it before he found out through someone else.

The distance between the library and the third music room had never seemed so far, and Haruhi was panting for breath when she got there. Pushing the doors open, she looked around for where Tamaki was.

"Haruhi, you can't be here."

Kyouya had been by the doors when she'd come in, and was now walking to her, notebook in hand as always.

"I…I have to see…Tamaki," Haruhi gasped out. "The…the newspaper-"

"He hasn't seen it," Kyouya said. But Kyouya had. Did he realize what the photo was really of, or did he think….? "I will talk to him about it after the club."

Haruhi put a hand over her heart, willing it to stop beating so fast. "You don't think that I- Hikaru-"

"Of course not, though the evidence _is_ incriminating," Kyouya said coolly. "Which is why it would be best for me to discuss it with him, instead of you. He will, indefinitely, get upset, and is more likely to keep himself funder control around me. I will call you once I speak with him."

Haruhi nodded. Yes, Kyouya made sense; she really didn't want to have to be the one to explain the situation to Tamaki. "O-okay, Kyouya."

"You should probably leave, before our club starts loosing guests again, and I have to reopen your-"

Kyouya suddenly stopped, as there was a scuffling noise further into the room, combined with angry yells. Both he and Haruhi looked to find the source of the noise, and Haruhi's jaw dropped in complete and total disbelief.

Hikaru and Tamaki were yelling at each other, which could only mean one thing: Tamaki had found out.

"Oh no," Haruhi moaned.

"Oh no is right," Kyouya said, though he sounded far too calm for the current situation. He began walking to the two; Haruhi remained frozen where she was, horrified as she watched them.

And then Tamaki punched Hikaru square in the face.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this! This chapter was particularly long (for me at least), and we're finally really into the good stuff.

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	17. She's The One Who Began It pt 2

Tamaki's first day back at school had gone particularly well, up until the Host Club had started up for the day.

More girls than ever were designating him today, which only served as an ego booster. Clearly, his presence had been missed among these girls over the break. He was still the most popular host! However, when he sat down with the first round of girls, he never even got the chance to say 'hello' to them.

"Tamaki!" One of the girls had cried out. "I'm so sorry! Are you coping all right?"

"You seem to be doing so well, acting so strong!" Another commented. "You must be upset, though, right?"

"It was a terrible, terrible thing for her to do!" Chimed in yet another.

"She's heartless," said the first one adamantly, "to toy with you that way!"

Tamaki looked around at them all. "I-I'm sorry; coping with, ah, what?" he asked, wondering what they were talking about.

The girls exchanged glances with each other, gasping. "Tamaki, you don't know?" The second one asked, a horrified expression on her face.

"Don't know what?" What did they know that he didn't? He was so curious as to what they were talking about, that he hadn't even bothered to put on his princely façade.

"Haruhi's cheating on you!" the first hissed quietly. "With Hikaru!"

Tamaki stared at her for a moment, and then laughed lightly. He and Haruhi had discussed this weeks ago. Haruhi was very much faithful to him.

"She isn't," Tamaki assured the girls. "Haruhi and I talked about it; the photo was taken out of context. She was just comforting Hikaru."

"With her _mouth_?!"

That made Tamaki do a double take. "E-excuse me?" he said weakly.

One of the girls fished something out of her purse. "See, Tamaki," she said, handing him a copy of the school paper.

He felt instantly sick to his stomach, seeing the photograph of Haruhi and Hikaru. He clamped a hand over his mouth, unable to take his eyes off of it. Haruhi…Haruhi had told him, she had _told_ him nothing was going on between her and Hikaru and-and here it was, the evidence that she had been _lying_ to him.

His Haruhi; his beautiful, precious Haruhi, was cheating on him with-

"Tamaki?"

_Hikaru_.

"Hikaru!" Tamaki yelled, jumping to his feet, throwing the paper down. He was absolutely enraged, so much angrier than he'd ever been in his life. He didn't even realize he was storming over to where the twins were seated until he was there, standing face to face with Hikaru.

"Yes M'lord?" Hikaru didn't seem phased at all by how angry Tamaki was, but was just staring at him calmly. Kaoru was still seated, but was watching the two intently.

"You." It was all Tamaki could get out. "You-you-"

"I _what_?" Hikaru sounded annoyed.

"_You kissed Haruhi_!"

"Yeah. And?"

Tamaki could kill him. Tamaki was so filled with rage that he could just _kill him_. How could he be so nonchalant about having done something so terrible, to have caused such awful infidelity? "W-why did you-"

"Because I wanted to," Hikaru snapped. Kaoru was now tugging at Hikaru's sleeve, saying something to him, telling him to stop. He merely shook his arm out of his brother's grip, and continued: "She's not your property, so why no-"

"She's my girlfriend!" Tamaki yelled.

"You aren't the only one that loves her"! Hikaru shot back, his voice equally loud, and his face turning red.

Tamaki's jaw dropped in horror. That shouldn't matter, that shouldn't matter one bit. Haruhi was his, _his_, not Hikaru's and Hikaru had no right to go in and-and help himself!

"She should be with me," Hikaru said through gritted teeth. "She should be my girl-"

Tamaki never let him finish the sentence. He punched Hikaru in the face as hard as he could, and, within seconds, was knocked back by a blow from Kaoru. Apparently Kaoru felt he needed to join in to help his brother.

After that, it was a frenzy between the three of them.

* * *

It had been bad enough when Hikaru had been punched, but when Kaoru joined in on the fight, Haruhi knew it couldn't get any worse. Three of hosts were fighting because of her- and in the middle of club hours, with roughly half the school population watching.

It was something from a nightmare.

Haruhi ran towards the three of them to- to, well, do _something_. She couldn't just stand and watch; it wasn't a fair fight at all! Two against one! But, before she reached them, someone grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her back.

It was Kyouya. "Don't," he hissed.

"But-" She looked back to the twins and Tamaki and suddenly saw why. Mori and Hunnie had come out of no where, and were breaking up the fight. The twins had been caught by Mori, and he was holding them back by the collars of their shirts and jackets; Hunnie had pinned Tamaki on the floor. Tamaki had a bloody nose and a tear in the one of the sleeves of his jacket; Kaoru's lips was bleeding and all ready swelling, and Hikaru would surely have a shiner by dinner time.

For a moment, there was silence as Hunnie said, wagging his finger at the three of them, "Fighting is a no-no!"

Kyouya cleared his throat. "Ladies, the Host Club is now closed for the day."

No one moved, except for Haruhi, Now that everything was calm between them (Mori had even let go of the twins' collars, but was clearly staying close in case either decided to try and get another punch in), she stormed up to where they were, going straight past Tamaki, to Hikaru.

"H-Haruhi!?" Tamaki had cried weakly from the floor. Despite the fact that Hunnie was no longer pinning him down, he hadn't stood up yet, but instead was sitting.

She slapped Hikaru hard across the cheek. He stared at her, wide-eyed.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" Haruhi snapped at him. She turned angrily to look at Tamaki. "And you! _Fighting in your own club_!"

Kyouya's voice rang out from the background. "Ladies, the club is now closed. Please make your way out now."

Haruhi looked back at Hikaru. "I all ready told you no! You know that I'm with Tamaki; pushing this isn't going to get you anywhere! Especially by _fighting_! Give it up!"

Hikaru narrowed his eyes for half a second, and then his expression turned to that one of desperation she saw at the Ball. "You should be with me-"

"No!" Haruhi yelled. "No! I should be with _him_!" She pointed back at Tamaki. "Because he's the one that I love, not you!"

"Ladies, to the exits now, please," Kyouya said again, more forcefully this time.

Hikaru and Haruhi stared angrily at each other for a moment, before Hikaru turned suddenly, heading to the door. Kaoru hesitated for a second, and then ran after his brother.

The girls were beginning to actually leave now. Haruhi let out a sigh of relief, to have less of an audience as she went over to Tamaki.

His jaw was slightly agape as she knelt beside him, wishing she had her schoolbag with her; there were tissues in it she could give him for his bloody nose. It was still in the library. She'd have to go get it after she made sure Tamaki was all right.

"Are you okay?" Haruhi asked. Yes, she was still mad that he was stupid enough to start fighting here, but she wasn't cold hearted. Her boyfriend was hurt; of course she wanted to make sure he wasn't in significant pain.

He was staring at her in disbelief. "You- you _weren't_ hooking up with Hikaru?"

It was Haruhi's turn to stare in shock. She'd been sure he would see the photograph for what it was- Hikaru coming on to her. She'd thought that was why he was upset and fighting Hikaru. She though he'd give her a little more credit than that.

"You- you're so impossible sometimes!" Haruhi snapped, standing up in a huff. She could feel the tears building up, threatening to spill over. How could he so easily assume that she would actually cheat on him? Did he have _any_ trust in her?

"Haruhi…"

"I'm going home!" Haruhi said angrily, walking quickly out of the third music room, fighting back tears the entire way to the library where she'd left her things.

Tamaki could be so incredibly stupid at times!

Sniffling, Haruhi wiped at her nose with her sleeve. This was one thing she wasn't going to let go so quickly; Tamaki had to learn to trust _her_ and not that stupid fucking newspaper!

Reaching the library, Haruhi went straight to where she had left her things, and could only stare in utter horror for a minute.

The table she'd been sitting at was completely covered in her belongings; someone had taken her bag, and dumped the entire contents out. Stepping closer, she saw someone had taken a marker- probably one of her permanent ones that she used to label the covers of her notebooks and folders with- and had written all over everything of hers. Her notebooks, textbooks and schoolbag were covered in words.

Bitch. Slut. Whore. Cunt. Tramp.

Haruhi was finding it extremely hard to hold back her tears now. Everything about this afternoon was so damn frustrating and awful- and now this. Now this.

As calmly as she could, Haruhi began gathering everything up, and putting it all back in her bag. She'd have to buy a new bag today; she couldn't come to school with this on. She'd just have to cover her notebooks in paper, or paint over the words. There were too many notes in them to just transfer it all to another notebook. Her textbooks were ruined. She'd have to pay a fine at the end of the year for them. Now…there was only one thing missing: her mp3 player. Her father had given it to her at her last birthday; he'd actually done well with saving his money up for something.

Haruhi looked at all the seats, and underneath the table; it wasn't there. Thinking that it was probably stolen, she heaved a sigh, and grabbed her bag, ready to leave when she saw it.

It was a few feet away on the floor and in about a dozen pieces. It clearly had been stepped on repeatedly by a high-heeled shoe.

This was all too much. Haruhi was going to have to talk to the editor of the school paper; this was beginning to affect her personal life.

* * *

Another long chapter! Whee!

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	18. She's The One Who Began It pt 3

For the first time in their lives, Hikaru and Kaoru had a fight.

A real one, that is.

Hikaru had been upset the whole drive back to their mansion; Kaoru had done what he could to comfort him. Kaoru hated this whole mess so much. It was causing Hikaru endless amounts of grief, and there was little he could do to help him.

But, this was Hikaru's fault this time.

"You didn't have to provoke Tamaki," Kaoru said.

They were in their bedroom; night had fallen, though the two were not getting ready for bed. Hikaru was drawing on the bed, looking very sulky the whole time, and would crumple up a paper, tossing it on the floor every so often. Kaoru had been attempting to read beside him, but gave up; he couldn't shake off what had happened earlier.

He hadn't been planning on joining in on Tamaki and Hikaru's argument, but when the club president punched his brother in the face, Kaoru couldn't stay out of it. He'd _hit_ his _brother_; that just wasn't going to fly with him.

Hikaru looked up at him, shocked. "What?"

"You could have explained what had happened," Kaoru said, setting his book down, "instead of…what happened."

Hikaru looked back down at his sketchbook angrily. "You don't understand," he heard his older brother mutter.

That shocked Kaoru. Never, ever in their life had they thought the other wouldn't understand something about them. They _were_ each other, after all.

"Of course I understand," Kaoru said bitterly. "You could have done the _adult_ thing, and instead you picked a fight with Tamaki and got Haruhi mad at you."

Hikaru didn't respond, and for the first time, Kaoru couldn't read him. He sat in stunned silence, staring at Hikaru, hoping…. But no; there was nothing. Hikaru wasn't letting him in.

Frustrated, Kaoru stormed from the room.

* * *

"Kaoru."

Kaoru opened his eyes. He had gone to one of the guest rooms to sleep, as he and Hikaru hadn't made up. He couldn't stand sleeping in the same bed as his brother now, not when there was…some sort of wall there. Kaoru hadn't understood that, not at all. Why was Hikaru blocking him out?

But now Hikaru was here, crawling into bed with him. Kaoru rolled over to face his brother, who was now next to him, pulling the blankets up to nestle under them.

"Hikaru." Kaoru rubbed his eyes sleepily; _what time was it?_

"It's after midnight," Hikaru answered, making Kaoru smile slightly. The wall was down again. Hikaru was staring at him intently, his eyes sad and, as they had been so often recently when they were alone, filled with hurt. This time, it wasn't over Haruhi, but due to their fight. "Kaoru…. I'm sorry." _I didn't mean to do that. I… It's just hard, to know…_ "She's his…and it's not easy to…" _Handle._

_I know_. "It's okay." Kaoru slid closer to Hikaru and hugged him. "You just need to…be more careful around her. It'd be awful to lose her." _As a friend._

Hikaru sighed, returning the hug. "I know."

"It's going to be weird at the club tomorrow."

Hikaru stiffened, and Kaoru knew what he was thinking: _We're going back?_

"We should," Kaoru said, looking up at him. _We can't always just ignore everything we aren't happy with._

Hikaru sighed, and Kaoru knew that they would be going to the club tomorrow.

* * *

Akira was certainly having a good day. Not only had he been informed about a fight (an actually physical fight) that occurred at the Host Club, but he knew things were getting to Haruhi. How did he know?

She had paid him a little visit during a study hall.

Akira kept the club working during every free moment- there was no telling when someone would discover something about Tamaki or find a way to create more drama around Haruhi. He had his own office, and he'd been sitting in it, going through some photos, looking for anything that could inspire a story when Tomochika came in, Haruhi behind him.

"Akira?" he said. "Haruhi Fujioka wants to talk to you."

Akira had been highly amused. He leaned back in his chair, and nodded. "All right."

As Tomochika left, Akira said, "What could I do for you, Haruhi?"

"You could stop printing lies about me." The girl didn't waste time; he liked that. This could be interesting.

"Lies?" Akira repeated, feigning innocence.

"You know what I'm talking about," Haruhi said, her eyes narrowing. This was certainly different from the Haruhi he'd met way back when he'd tried interviewing her. She had seemed calm and nice enough; _something_ was getting under her skin. "This has been the second time you've printed something about me cheating on Tamaki, with absolutely no proof."

"Haruhi, all that has been published has merely been speculation, based solely upon the evidence given." Akira gestured to the photographs that cluttered his desk. "Twice now you have been found in private with Hikaru, the second time you were even kissing him."

"I wasn't-"

"Regardless of the surrounding circumstances, that is what it looked like," Akira said. "It was printed for the gossip column, which concerns just that: gossip. Nothing there is ever meant to give the impression that it's _fact_. It is all based upon rumors, gossip and speculation."

"I don't care whether you have a huge disclaimer saying that it all is a big huge lie," Haruhi snapped. "I don't want anymore stories printed about me."

Akira smirked. "Freedom of the press, Haruhi. As long as you are an interesting topic, your name may come up in the paper."

"Your stories are affecting me on a personal level. Please stop printing them."

That peaked his interest. "How so?"

Haruhi seemed to be struggling with an answer for a minute. "I don't think the girls at this school are able to distinguish fact from fiction," she said simply.

"I don't quite follow," Akira said; he did, however, he wanted to hear first hand what exactly was happening.

"Girls are…taking it personally." She paused. "You know how popular Tamaki is; they hear that I'm cheating on him, and they get upset, and take it out on me. Several of my belongings have been vandalized because of this."

"Really?" Akira thought a moment. This could actually be detrimental to his actions. If girls _were_ really trashing her things, then she did have a case to force him to stop printing stories about her…if she could prove it. "Are you sure that's what it's about? And not just that the girls are simply jealous of you?"

"I'm…pretty certain." She didn't sound it anymore. "It's only happened since you started printing stories about me."

"So it started before you and Tamaki began dating?"

"No-"

"It sounds to me then that the girls are just jealous of you." Akira shrugged. "And that has nothing to do with this paper. Looks like there will still be stories printed that may have to do with you."

* * *

Haruhi finally understood why Kyouya hadn't seemed to like Akira so many months ago. The guy was a complete and total _dick_.

She left the home of the Newspaper Club extremely upset with herself for not being able to find a way to argue through that; surely her mother could have. She'd have to work on that, if she was ever to become a lawyer.

Haruhi stalked through the halls, heading to the usual library where she did her work. Hopefully, algebra would distract her enough from this mess to calm down.

However, she never made it to the library.

"Haruhi! There you are!"

She turned around; Tamaki was running up to her. Haruhi braced herself for an overly emotional Tamaki. They hadn't spoken since she'd stormed out of the third music room yesterday, and he probably was going to do something overly dramatic in apology.

Tamaki surprised her by coming up to her, extremely calmly, and said, "Can we go somewhere more private?"

If Haruhi wasn't so upset all ready, she would have smacked him for suggesting- after clearly showing yesterday that he didn't trust her- that they go make out. However, she was in need of some way to release her frustration, and that sort of activity seemed like it could do the trick.

"Yeah," she said with a nod.

But Haruhi was disappointed when, instead of going to the abandoned wing of the school where they usually went, Tamaki led her to a deserted (though commonly used) hallway. He couldn't be thinking of doing it here…could he?

"Haruhi, I'm sorry for yesterday," he said quietly. "I know you better than that; I shouldn't have believed the story."

Haruhi nodded. "Yeah…." She gave him a reassuring smile though; he looked like he needed it.

Tamaki returned the smile, and then reached into the pocket of his coat. "I got you something…."

Haruhi's smiled began to fade. He thought he had to make up for it with a gift? A simple apology, like the one he'd said, was good enough.

He held out a small black velvet box, and Haruhi's heart skipped a beat- and not in a good way. Rings came in small black velvet boxes, and the only reason she could think of for a boyfriend to give a girlfriend a ring: to move from boyfriend to fiancé.

Hesitantly, Haruhi took the box from Tamaki and slowly opened it. Well, it didn't look like any engagement ring Haruhi had ever seen; it was a simple jade band, and probably worth far more than it seemed. Confused, she looked back up at Tamaki.

"It's a promise," he said, taking the box back from her, and the ring out of it. A promise? Like…a promise ring? That was one step under an engagement ring. "A promise to never lose trust in you, like I did." He slipped the ring on her finger.

Haruhi stared down at the ring. This…was a pleasant surprise. She'd been expecting something extremely cliché, but this…. This actually meant something to her. It meant a lot.

"Haruhi?"

He was obviously waiting to hear something from her; a reaction, maybe, or an expression of gratitude. She looked up at him. He was staring at her intently.

Haruhi flung her arms around his neck and kissed him. How was that for showing her gratitude?

* * *

Ah! Another chapter. Things are going to probably slow down now, since I won't have any more finals to avoid studying for.

Things will pick up again, I promise. We have quite a way to go before this story starts coming to a conclusion.

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	19. She's The One Who Began It pt 4

Haruhi didn't speak to the twins for another week. She was too upset with Hikaru to say a word to him, and she couldn't talk to Kaoru without being within two feet of Hikaru, which she wasn't exactly fond of being.

She'd been hard at work during history class, when the teacher had let them break up into groups to work on things. Since the rest of the school seemed entirely against her and she wasn't speaking to Hikaru and Kaoru, she was left to work on the project by herself. That was entirely fine with her; she worked better alone, anyway.

"Hey, Haruhi."

She looked up, ready to brace herself for some sort of insult, but she was surprised to find Kaoru looking down at her, a small, almost hesitant smile on his face.

"Oh, h-hey," Haruhi said, surprised. She set her pencil down. "How, um, how are you?" she asked. They'd talked so little recently, due to all the stupid things Hikaru had done; it felt sort of odd to strike up a conversation with him.

"I'm good." Kaoru sat down at the desk in front of her; apparently, the previous occupant had moved to another part of the room when the class had broken up into groups. "You?"

"I've been okay," Haruhi said, nodding.

There was a brief pause of silence.

"I'm… I'm sorry for what happened last week," Kaoru said. "I shouldn't have fought with Tamaki, but when he hit Hikaru, I couldn't help it." He looked down at the desk, avoiding her eyes. "I know I shouldn't have, and I'm sorry."

Well, this was surprising. Haruhi wasn't the slightest bit mad at Kaoru. It wasn't as though she approved of fighting (she didn't disapprove of it either, but thought it should be avoided when it could be), but she understood why Kaoru had done it. She would have done the same thing in his position.

It was Hikaru she was mad at, for acting like an _ass_. She still didn't know what he had said to Tamaki, but she knew it had to have been something really irritating due to Tamaki's violent reaction.

"It's okay," Haruhi said, and Kaoru looked up at her. She gave him a smile, and he seemed to let out a sigh of relief. "I was never mad at you, anyway."

Kaoru nodded. "Just Hikaru?" he seemed hopeful that she would say she wasn't mad at him either, but Haruhi had to disappoint him.

"Until he apologizes, yes," Haruhi said, and Kaoru's face fell slightly, which irritated Haruhi. "He acted like a jerk. I have every right to be mad at him."

Again, Kaoru nodded. "I know." He let out a sigh. "I know. It's just…really hard for him to apologize. He wants things to be normal again."

"Then he needs to apologize," Haruhi said. Realizing Hikaru wasn't in sight, he looked around the room, confused. "Where _is_ Hikaru?"

"He went to the bathroom."

"Oh." There was another pause. "So…how have things been at the Host Club?"

"Tense," Kaoru said grimly. "Kyouya moved Hikaru and I to the other side of the room, to avoid any conflict. But more girls than ever have been coming."

That surprised Haruhi. "Really?"

"Yeah. Apparently the fight only raised our popularity." He laughed. "Of all things…a fight amongst the hosts is what makes us more popular then before."

"Girls here are strange," Haruhi muttered, picking up her pencil again. She'd never understand the really wealthy, no matter how much time she spent around them. They were so…silly about things.

She was about to return to the project (she really needed to get this done during class so she didn't have it for homework as well), when the classroom door opened, and Hikaru walked in. Haruhi set down her pencil again; she was sure, since Kaoru was sitting with her (and seemed to have no intention of getting up), that he would come join them. She was not disappointed.

He kind of hovered around them for a moment, visibly uncomfortable with being around her. Hikaru never met her gaze, and kept looking at Kaoru, as though pleading with him to move elsewhere. But Kaoru stayed put.

"Hi," Haruhi said. She hadn't wanted to be the first to say anything, but one of them had to.

"Hey." His voice was quiet, and he still wouldn't look at her.

The was a good long moment before he spoke again. "Haruhi," Hikaru said, still refusing to meet her eyes, "do you want to go talk?"

Haruhi almost said, 'As long as you don't kiss me this time,' but caught herself in time. Nodding, she said, "All right." Putting her pencil down again, she stood up, waiting for Hikaru to lead the way to wherever he wanted to go.

They went out into the hallway. It was deserted, since classes were in session. Haruhi stood patiently, waiting for Hikaru to talk.

"I don't," Hikaru said, and then stopped. He still seemed unable to look her in the eye, from the way he kept looking everywhere _but_ her. "It's just…. I ha-" He shook his head, apparently not happy with what he'd been about to say. "I'm sorry," Hikaru said finally. "I…didn't mean for things to go so far…." He finally looked at her, and Haruhi was struck by how upset he looked. "I- it just gets under my skin that you and him- I don't like it."

"It doesn't matter if you don't like it; it's just the way it is," Haruhi said, not in an unkind way. "Tamaki and I are dating. I don't want to lose our friendship over this, but you're making it extremely hard to keep it going."

"I know," Hikaru grumbled. He leaned against a wall, arms folded over his chest. "It's just hard."

"Then stop thinking about it," Haruhi suggested, "and let's just be friends again."

Hikaru seemed to be struggling with something. At long last, he finally said, "Okay."

Haruhi stared in shock. That was all it took? Somehow, she'd expected it to be a bit more difficult. She smiled, and said, "Okay."

* * *

Akira couldn't believe it. He could not fucking believe it. The Host Club was practically in shambles, with three of them in a fight, and yet its popularity had only increased? What sort of insane logic was that?

He was ready to ram his head against a wall when the news had been delivered to him. And- and!- not only was the Host Club still in tact (barely), but Haruhi and Tamaki had not even had a huge fight over this. No! No, it seemed to have only brought them closer together, going by the ring Haruhi was now wearing. And, as though it were icing on the cake, Haruhi and the twins were on speaking terms again.

What sort of trash was he supposed to publish now? The paper was due to come out tomorrow, and he had no story for the gossip column. Nothing at all! He was going to publish a story on the fight, how the club was falling apart, Tamaki's relationship with Haruhi was on the rocks, etc, but he couldn't now, not with _all_ the evidence pointing otherwise.

But…maybe he didn't have to publish all of that. Things were, according to his sources, actually rocky between Tamaki and the twins, so there was always that. Maybe…. Akira's eyes lit up at the brilliance of his new plan. Maybe, while simultaneously making Haruhi and Tamaki look bad, he could try to almost create more tension between the twins and Tamaki. They would certainly quit the club eventually (if they weren't thrown out first), which would start the breakdown of Tamaki's little club, and, ultimately, Tamaki's demise.

Yes, it was the perfect plan.

* * *

Omigosh. So sorry for the lack of updates. I know you guys got used to a chapter or two a night there, but I left my notebook filled with everything I've written for this story at school over the break, and didn't want to take a chance on missing something by uploading a chapter without looking at my notes. Updates will come quicker, I promise!

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	20. She's The One Who Began It pt 5

Spring was now starting to peak its head up, and the signs were everywhere. Blades of grass were poking up through the snow, which was turning to slush. The weather was getting a touch warmer; no longer did everyone have to get entirely bundled up when they went out.

But, the coming of spring wasn't the only thing that was happening at Ouran Academy.

Kyouya noticed it. He didn't know how Tamaki hadn't- he was dating Haruhi, after all. He should notice everything about her or the big things at least. He couldn't comprehend how it had completely missed the twins; they were around her all day. And it was all so blatantly obvious.

Now, Kyouya knew he was more observant than most, but really. This was plain as day- a blind man could see it.

Haruhi was being bullied. And not just by one person. No, Haruhi was lucky enough to be receiving harassment from the majority of the girls of the school and none of them were subtle about it.

Kyouya noticed it every time he passed her in the hallway. Girls (oh, they truly could be malicious when they wanted to be) were hiss names at her; he'd seen her open her locker only to have notes fall at her feet. She never opened them anymore. Kyouya had though, once, out of curiosity, and been simply appalled by what it had said. These supposed ladies that the Host Club was catering to, to make them feel like princesses, were calling Haruhi names that would impress and inspire sailors.

Kyouya's reaction to this? He, in his disgust with the school, quite happily raised the prices of all the Host Club's merchandise.

He'd hoped it would suffice to calm him. Haruhi did not deserve any of the foul names she was being called, and Kyouya often found that the best way to feel as though he'd gotten enough revenge was to get money (or something similar) out of it.

But, it wasn't enough. The harassment did not stop, and seemed to only worsen with time.

So, Kyouya went out of his way to walk Haruhi to her classes. Tamaki, who was used to following him like a lost puppy from classroom to classroom, did the same thing, and it seemed to help. With Tamaki and himself around, the girls didn't seem so eager to call her names.

It wasn't much, Kyouya was sure, but it was something. Not that Haruhi would ever complain about it; she was very independent, and would surely try to take care of everything on her own, as she had been doing.

But, one day, Tamaki had been asked to stay after one of their classes to discuss a test grade. He'd tried to convince Kyouya to wait for him- "We always walk together, Kyouya!"- but Kyouya had insisted on leaving, saying he didn't want to be late for class.

This, of course, translated to that he didn't want Haruhi to have to fend through the hallways on her own.

He knew her schedule, and walked briskly, to catch up with her. He had wasted a few precious moments arguing with Tamaki, and was worried. It didn't show on his face though.

He saw her ahead in the hall, walking the same direction he was. He'd catch up to her in just a moment-

Suddenly there was a loud clatter as Haruhi's books fell from her arms, and she stopped moving to stare at a girl. The girl (whom Kyouya recognized as a regular of Tamaki's, Kanna Matsui) held her gaze, and Kyouya was actually shocked at just how angrily Haruhi was being looked at.

"Go back to your commoner's school, whore," he heard Kanna say. "No one wants a harlot here."

Haruhi opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Kyouya stepped forward. "Miss Matsui, I'm sure Tamaki would not be pleased to hear one of his favorite girls talking to his girlfriend in such a manner," he said, his voice icy. "If you wish to continue to be welcome at the Host Club, I suggest you learn to treat others with decency."

The girl looked absolutely horrified for a split second before putting on a very fake, very forced smile. "I was just offering to help Haruhi pick up her books," she said sweetly.

Kyouya wasn't fooled. "I'm sure you were. However, I can help her with that."

Kanna continued to just smile as she walked away. Kyouya watched her walk off, and then turned his attention to Haruhi. She was crouched on the floor, gathering up her things.

"If you told Tamaki what was going on, he'd help you out," Kyouya said, watching her pick her things up. He never really was going to help her pick up her things. Haruhi had that under control.

"There's no need," Haruhi said, just as he expected her to. "It isn't that bad." She stood up again.

"I see." Again, Kyouya wasn't fooled.

"But, thanks for that." Haruhi gave him a smile, and shook her head, getting her bangs out of her eyes, revealing dark circles she had. Kyouya made a mental note of them; they were surely something he should keep an eye on.

He wondered vaguely if this was something new, or if she had clearly not been getting enough sleep for a while now. He wasn't sure. When he and Tamaki walked her to class, Kyouya had been more preoccupied watching the expressions of the different girls they passed, to keep track of the ones he believed could be problematic for Haruhi; he rarely actually had looked at Haruhi.

"I'd better get to class," Haruhi said. "The bell's going to ring soon."

Kyouya nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

Haruhi's sleep schedule had been knocked off kilter as of recently. The homework load had risen, given that the end of the year would be in just a couple months. She was still working, and so she still depended on the free periods and study halls to get her homework done. However, she wasn't able to get as much done recently.

Girls were growing more and more aggressive towards her. It was no secret as to why, either: the Newspaper Club had been publishing stories saying that (among many, many other things) she was coming in the middle of the Host Club, Tamaki and the twins, namely, and was driving them apart.

Now, it was true that things had never actually smoothed over between Hikaru and Tamaki; Haruhi hadn't ever seen them together. It was a shame, Haruhi thought. Tamaki used to have so much fun with Hikaru and Kaoru.

But, it wasn't as though the Host Club was about to be short two members. Kaoru had assured her many times that they had no intention of ever quitting the club, nor were they doing anything that would make Tamaki want to kick them out. But, according to Kaoru, the tension between Hikaru and Tamaki during the club was intense.

Still, it wasn't as though Haruhi was _trying_ to cause all this drama. No, she never would wish it upon the club. But that didn't seem to mean much to all the girls who adored the Host Club. They would leap upon any moment to verbally attack her, and though Haruhi had once tried to defend herself, it was useless. The girls were beyond reason. They would find her during the study halls and free periods and relentlessly call her names.

Haruhi never left her belongings alone any more. She didn't want a repeat of what had happened to her schoolbag.

And so, if it seemed like she wasn't going to have a chance to get any of her homework done due to the idiocy of the female population, Haruhi would seek out Tamaki. The girls wouldn't do anything in front of him, she had discovered, so she would be able to relax happily with him. However, she still wouldn't get anything done. Tamaki was so demanding of her attention that it was impossible to complete any homework with him around.

Haruhi was forced to do her homework after school, and after work, and with the sudden increase in the amount of homework a night, it was taking a toll on her.

But, at least it was a Friday, Haruhi thought. She didn't have any work at all this weekend, and could not wait for the free time. Her weekend was all planned out; she'd spend time with Tamaki tonight, then sleep in both Saturday and Sunday, and use those days to finish up various homework assignments, as well as get a head start on some that weren't due for a while.

It was going to be a good weekend, Haruhi was sure of it. And, she was in her last class of the day, history. And, all she had to do for this class was turn in an essay; then it was an hour of free time for her to get started on some homework (if Hikaru and Kaoru didn't decide that they absolutely positively needed her unwavering attention).

There were still just a few minutes before class started, but Haruhi decided to get ready to turn in the essay so that she'd have more time to work on other things. She pulled out her history binder; opened it- and her eyes grew wide. Her essay was not in the pocket of the binder where she always put her homework. Panicking slightly, but assuring herself that it was just elsewhere, she flipped through the pages, her panic growing the closer she got to the end of the binder without finding it. Sure that it wasn't in her binder, Haruhi then went through all of her other books and notebooks.

It wasn't there. It wasn't with her, and Haruhi was sure she was ready to hyperventilate.

She never got this worked up over schoolwork; after all, she was a good student, she never got less than an A on anything she'd turned in. But, this wasn't just any essay; this was a huge project. The class had been given a month to work on it, with the clear instructions that it wasn't to be even five minutes late. The teacher was a hard-ass, which was to be expected from a history teacher, and Haruhi hadn't worried. She'd never turned in anything late.

Except now. And Haruhi knew exactly where her essay was. On her desk at home.

She was fucked.

Haruhi stared at her essay-less notebook, willing herself to calm down. There had to be something she could do, something to keep her from failing this essay- due to how much this essay was worth, an F could jeopardize her scholarship.

Okay. Her scholarship was at stake. Even her hard-ass teacher could understand that. Her essay was finished. She could…she could send it to him in an email the second she got home. Yes! That would work, it would work perfectly.

Taking a deep breath, Haruhi walked up to the teacher's desk. Mr. Hamaji was a fat old man; he'd clearly been working at the school for several decades, and was slightly intimidating. But Haruhi was determined. She was going to be a lawyer one day; this could be good practice for arguing cases one day, she told herself.

"Mr. Hamaji," she said, reaching his desk. He looked up from a notebook he'd been glancing through.

"Yes, Miss Fujioka?"

She swallowed. "Mr. Hamaji, I accidently left my essay at home. I was hoping I could send it to you, in an email, as soon as I get home."

He stared at her, his expression blank. Haruhi wished she could figure out what he was going to say next, so she could prepare herself for her next argument.

"The essay is due…" He paused, glancing at the clock. "In one minute, Miss Fujioka; no later. If you cannot turn it in then, you will receive a failing grade."

Haruhi felt her heart race at that response, but did her best to appear calm. "I need a passing grade on the essay, Mr. Hamaji, or I may lose my scholarship. My essay is finished; I forgot to bring it today. Please let me send it to you."

Again, he gazed at her for a good long minute. "Give it to me by the end of class, Miss Fujioka."

She blinked, unsure she heard him correctly. "What?"

"I've given you an extension. Hand it in to me by the end of class, and I will accept it. That gives you an hour."

"But-"

"No buts. You have an hour."

Haruhi stared at him in disbelief. An hour? Just an hour? This was going to be tricky. She looked back at the clock on the wall, ran back to her desk, gathered her things, and ran out the door. There would be a bus coming in about five minutes. If she got on that bus, maybe- maybe- she could get home and back to school in time.

Haruhi had never run faster in her life. The closest bus stop was off campus, a good block or two away. Hopefully it would be running late today; she was cutting it close as it was.

But, as Haruhi raced down the front steps, she saw the bus drive past. She watched drive away; she was no longer running, just standing and staring.

She felt like crying; there was no way she could ever get her essay turned in on time now.

Her bag dropped to the ground beside her. Haruhi didn't bother to pick it up. What was she going to do?

Feeling defeated, Haruhi sat heavily down on the steps, holding her head. This was the worst possible situation she could ever imagine being in. She needed to stay in school here, if she was to achieve her dream of being a successful lawyer.

"Haruhi?"

She looked behind her, a little surprised at the voice. She hadn't thought anyone else was out here- and no one was. But Kyouya was leaning out of the doors to the school; clearly, he did not want to leave the warm building.

"Oh- ah, hi Kyouya," Haruhi said, trying to compose herself as she stood up.

"What are you doing?" He didn't seem concerned, or even curious. It was as though he was merely asking if she thought it might rain.

"I…. I left an essay at home," Haruhi said slowly. "My teacher told me that if I turn it in by the end of class, I won't fail the essay. I was trying to catch a bus home."

"You missed it."

She nodded.

"I see." He stared at her for a moment, his expression, as usual, unreadable. Haruhi was about to pick up her bag again, to head inside and beg her teacher to give her the chance to just email the essay to him, when Kyouya moved; he reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. Intrigued by his actions, Haruhi just watched.

"Yes," Kyouya said into the receiver. "I need you to take Haruhi Fujioka home, and then bring her back to school immediately. Be quick about it."

Haruhi felt as though she could kiss Kyouya. She hadn't even needed to ask or bribe him. When he hung up the phone, she said, almost breathlessly out of the pure joy she felt, "Thank you so much."

He nodded in response. "The car will be here within five minutes. Just wait out here for it. I have to get back to class."

She nodded in return. "Okay- thank you again, Kyouya!"

"You're welcome." And with that, he went back inside.

Haruhi turned to face the front drive, no longer feeling stressed, but elated. Everything was going to work out.

* * *

Long-ish chapter! Whoo! I had to put Kyouya in the story more; I haven't had him in it nearly enough so far. Next chapter is when the good stuff starts happening again. Hooray for drama!

I hope you enjoyed this!

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	21. Earning Her Keep Pt 1

_"You can bet she's earning her keep sleeping around...."_

* * *

Tamaki hadn't thought that today was going to be any particularly special day. It was just an average Friday, and nothing had happened that was out of the ordinary…except that Haruhi had seemed a lot happier than usual as of late. She kept smiling on the way to his house, kept snuggling up against him. When he asked her what was up, she simply said that today had been a very good day for her.

Three hours later, Tamaki had to agree with her. Today had been an _excellent_ day.

Today he and Haruhi had finally had sex. And it had been absolutely perfect.

They were still in his bed, just lying quietly together. Haruhi was staring at him, and Tamaki was absolutely in awe at how beautiful and peaceful she looked. It…it had been amazing.

She was amazing.

Things were absolutely perfect.

* * *

Unfortunately, Haruhi was not feeling the same way about having gone all the way.

She hadn't felt pressured at all; in fact, she had initialized it. After turning in her paper on time, Haruhi had felt so accomplished and much happier than she'd had in a while. It was pure relief, and she'd been practically giddy. She'd felt safe, she'd felt happy and she felt ready. Everything had been so incredibly amazing- up until the penetration. Then things had gone sour for her.

It had hurt. That, she had expected. It hadn't been terrible, not as bad as she'd heard it could be, but it definitely hadn't been…comfortable. What Haruhi hadn't expected was that it didn't get any better. Not once did she feel anything close to being pleasurable; it was just ten long minutes of endless friction. With all the thrusting and rubbing, it felt more like a work out than anything anyone would consider fun.

Tamaki apparently had enjoyed it, from his endless grin. He hadn't stopped smiling since he'd climaxed and rolled off of her. Haruhi couldn't help but feel a little jealous; why hadn't she felt what he had?

Tamaki was inching closer, and Haruhi was suddenly struck with the fear that he would want to do it again. She didn't think she could do it again so soon; hell, she couldn't consider having sex again for a while, not if that's what it felt like.

Instead, he kissed her softly and whispered, "I love you."

"Love you too," Haruhi said softly, wishing that the dull ache between her legs would disappear.

* * *

Haruhi had never found a greater need for a girl friend.

It was Sunday. She had done just as she had planned; her homework for the weekend was done, she'd completed her chores, and had even started to work on upcoming assignments.

But, her mind was elsewhere. She was still-oh, bothered wasn't the correct word, but it was close enough- bothered by how her first time went. She'd done research online, and found that it was common for the first time to hurt (which she knew), and even more common for a girl to have difficulty having an orgasm. It was comforting to know that, but…she didn't feel satisfied.

She needed to talk to someone about this. Tamaki was out of the question; she didn't want to bruise his all ready impossibly fragile ego and have to deal with him moping in the corner when she was trying to have a serious conversation. She had no girl friends to talk to, nor did she think she'd find one soon, from the way the girls at school had been treating her.

This was emotionally straining. She'd been looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend. If Haruhi had seen that sex would be this stressful, she _never_ would have decided to go through with it.

Haruhi had gone through everyone she knew, all the people she was closest to, and was a little upset (for the first time) that they all were male. It was going to make any sort of conversation (if she went through with it and tried to talk to one of them) of this topic incredibly difficult and awkward.

Kaoru seemed like the best candidate. He was an active listener and pretty understanding when he was separated from his brother. He would do his best to…do whatever it was that she needed to be done, Haruhi was sure of that. Still, it would be awkward as hell to talk with him about it; not just that he was a boy, but because he was Kaoru's brother.

The two kept no secrets, Haruhi was sure of that. So…if Hikaru wanted to know what he and Haruhi had talked about, he would find out. And that would be terrible for so many different reasons.

So Haruhi was sitting on her bed, weighing the pros and cons, trying to decide if it was worth it to call up Kaoru.

After what seemed like hours of tossing things back and forth, Haruhi finally picked up her phone and dialed the twins' number. She took a deep breath and let it out slow as she waited for him to pick up.

* * *

Hikaru and Kaoru had been watching a movie, lying on top of each other and under each other; limbs intertwined so that they were as close as they could possibly be. They had always lain like this together when watching a movie. It was just more comfortable for them to be with the other. When their cell phone had run, Kaoru had answered it; it was easiest for him to reach over Hikaru to pick up the phone that had been lying by them on the sofa.

Hikaru hadn't paid much attention to the phone until he heard Kaoru say, "Oh, hey Haruhi!"

Hikaru looked up at Kaoru, for Kaoru was leaning over him still. He was grinning, and Hikaru couldn't blame him. It had been a while since Haruhi had come over; maybe she wanted to.

Kaoru seemed to have the same idea. "We're just watching a movie- do you want to come ov…." He suddenly trailed off, first looking crestfallen, then confused. "About what?.... _Har_-uhi, about what?"

Haruhi had to have told Hikaru exactly what _what_ was, for suddenly, Kaoru's face paled immensely, and he was struggling to get his arms and legs untangled from Hikaru's. When he was at last free, and sitting up, Kaoru said, "R-really? What-"

Haruhi must've cut him off again, because he fell silent. Hikaru sat upright, watching his brother intently. "What's this about?" he asked Kaoru quietly.

Kaoru either didn't hear him (highly unlikely), or he was waiting to respond after Haruhi finished speaking.

"Yeah, we'll be right over…. Oh. _Oh_." Kaoru looked to Hikaru, meeting his eyes. All Hikaru could read off of him was pure uncertainty. "Y-yeah, I got you. I'll see you soon." He hung up the phone and dropped it onto the sofa beside him.

"What was that about?" Hikaru asked again. From the way Kaoru was hesitating, he knew something…not good was going on.

"Haruhi…slept with Tamaki on Friday. For the first time, " he added. Kaoru wasn't looking at him as he said this. "Something about it is bothering her; she wants to talk about it."

Hikaru was floored. Haruhi and Tamaki had-

_No_.

He knew that they were dating, and had been dating for months now, but…. He still was not over her. He doubted he ever would be. The only way he was able to tolerate the two of them being together was the reassurance that they would, indefinitely, one day break up. They were destined to because they just did not belong together.

And now this happened. Which made their relationship seem all the more serious.

He had to look away from Kaoru, to keep his frustration and anger and hurt in check. He couldn't explode now. Not when he could accidently hurt Kaoru.

"She wants to talk to me about it," Kaoru added quietly. "She…thought it would be too much for you to…hear it."

Damn straight it would be. Hikaru was on edge now, completely tense. This was so bad, this was the worst news Hikaru could ever think of receiving. Why had she called Kaoru; she had to have known the news would get back to him! It…why…

"Why is she doing this to me?!" he cried out, bending over, and holding his head in his hands so he was nearly in the fetal position.

"She isn't trying to hurt you," Kaoru said. He felt the couch shift beside him, and then Kaoru's hand was on his back, rubbing soothing circles. "Haruhi sounded…upset, somehow. She just needs a friend right now."

That didn't help Hikaru much.

"If you don't want me to go talk to her, I won't," Kaoru said quietly. "I'll call her back and tell her I can't."

Hikaru wanted to tell him to do that. He wanted Haruhi to be as upset as he was, to feel as hurt as he was. But…he couldn't do that to her. Not to Haruhi.

"Go," Hikaru said, not changing his position. "Just…go and talk to her."

* * *

UGH. It took me forever to decide where to cut this chapter off. I'm still not sure if I like it being cut off here but…. I think it'll be fine.

Again… YAY DRAMA! I actually normally hate drama buuuut I'm loving the various kinds of hell I'm putting all the characters through. Loving it.

Anywho, hope you enjoyed it.

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	22. Earning Her Keep Pt 2

Kyouya had been steady at work all weekend- and not just on schoolwork. He was researching all the other prestigious schools in the area; how far they were away, how the public transportation was around them, and whether Haruhi's scholarship could be transferable to any of them.

After seeing Haruhi so stressed out on Friday due to having forgotten her homework at home (something Haruhi had never done before, which Kyouya attributed to the stress she was having due to the harassment she was receiving), Kyouya decided it would probably be best for her to leave the school.

The harassment was absolutely out of control. The girls at the school had transformed into malicious demons just from the rumors the Newspaper Club was spreading around- and there was nothing Kyouya could do to stop that. But, he could try to separate Haruhi from the problem. He knew she wouldn't go for transferring if she was just going back to a public school, but he was hoping that by having information on other equally good schools, she would agree.

Her own happiness was at stake, after all. Surely she'd see that.

Tamaki wouldn't be happy about this, that was for sure. Especially with the school that seemed like the only possibility: Lobelia.

It was a very good school, her scholarship could transfer there and it was easy for her to get to via public transportation. It didn't hurt either that she was all ready well liked by a few of the girls there.

All in all, Kyouya felt that he could convince her to transfer. Then, hopefully, things could calm down at Ouran.

* * *

Haruhi had asked Kaoru to meet her at a nearby café, to talk there. She was too worried about her dad coming home; the very last thing she wanted was to be caught talking about having sex.

Kaoru was all ready there when she arrived. He had a drink with him and was sitting at a small table near the back, clearly for privacy reasons. Seeing her walk in, he had given her a small wave; she walked over to him.

"Hey," he said, giving her a small smile.

"Hi," Haruhi said quietly. God, this was going to be extremely difficult to talk about, she could feel it. She sat across from him. "So…ah, Hikaru's o-okay with being alone?"

Kaoru sighed. "He's as good as he can be."

Which meant that he wasn't okay. Haruhi felt a surge of guilt course through her. The twins were never separate; she'd remembered how frantic Hikaru had become that one Halloween when the two of them had separated from Kaoru. He was probably a mess right now.

"He…took the news kind of hard," Kaoru added, and Haruhi blushed bright red. Oh, how was she supposed to talk about this when she was getting embarrassed all ready? It just… She had hoped, by some sort of miracle, Kaoru wouldn't have told Hikaru.

"You…you, ah, said something about it was…wrong?" Kaoru asked, staring intently at his cup of coffee.

Haruhi nodded, then realizing he couldn't see her nod while looking down, said, "Yeah. It…hurt."

Kaoru suddenly looked sharply up at her. He looked surprised and alarmed. "Tamaki _hurt_ you?"

Haruhi had never seen this forceful side of Kaoru before; it was a bit shocking. "No, no, it was nothing like that!" she said quickly.

"Did he force you?"

"No, not at all. That's not what I mean," Haruhi said, wishing she hadn't been so blunt and had actually thought through a response. She sighed. "I mean…. It wasn't good." No, that wasn't what she wanted to say. "It didn't feel good. And it's bothering me. It's supposed to feel good, right?"

Kaoru was quiet a moment, and Haruhi wasn't sure if she'd said too much or the wrong this.

"Ah…." He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, his brow furrowed. "I guess it should. Did, uh, Tamaki…think the same?" He clearly was not comfortable talking about this.

Haruhi shook her head. "He seemed to…like it."

"Have you talked to him?"

"No…. I don't think he'd take it the right way."

"What do you mean?"

"How do you think Tamaki would react if I told him the sex was not good?" Haruhi sighed again. "He'd get upset."

Kaoru shrugged. "Tono is Tono. He'll listen."

Haruhi stared in disbelief. She couldn't imagine Tamaki taking the news well at all. He'd probably sulk in a corner; it'd be a terrible blow to his ego. "You think so?"

"When it comes to you, he listens," Kaoru said simply. "And you probably should talk to him about this. It's…important."

Haruhi nodded. It was probably a good idea, but there was no way it was going to be easy.

* * *

Akira always came to school an hour early, to try and organize things for the Newspaper Club. There was a lot of planning involved; last minute things would come up that had to be dealt with right away, who should research what, the list went on.

The very first thing he did was check his email. Sitting at his desk, he logged on, and was pleasantly surprised to find an email from one of the members he had selectively following Haruhi labeled "URGENT."

He hoped it would be good; sometimes, emails labeled 'urgent' usually just meant it was a new photo of Tamaki and Haruhi making out.

He was not disappointed.

_Akira,_

_I overheard Haruhi Fujioka and one of the Hitachiin twins talking on Sunday. Fujioka and Suou have had sex, and, apparently during it, Suou hurt Fujioka._

_I'll tell you more in detail when I come in._

_-Mitsuni_

Akira grinned. This could make for an excellent story.

* * *

Haruhi didn't talk to Tamaki Sunday night. She really did not want to bring it up. Maybe…they could just not do it again, and forget the whole thing happened. Knowing Tamaki, though, he'd probably be eager to go at it again.

Haruhi sighed, adjusted her schoolbag as she walked up the front steps of the school. It was not something she ever wanted to experience again.

Reaching her classroom, Haruhi was surprised to find Kyouya standing outside of it, a manila folder in his hand.

"Hi Kyouya," Haruhi said warmly.

He nodded a greeting. "Haruhi, could we go talk?"

"Class is going to start in a minute," she reminded him.

He held up two slips of paper. "I have notes excusing our tardiness."

Haruhi blinked in surprise. This had to be something important for him to be unable to wait to talk to her until they had more time. "Um…okay."

They walked to one of the indoor courtyards, Haruhi wondering the entire time what Kyouya wanted to talk about, and why it couldn't have waited until one of the breaks. Was something going on with the club that he wanted her to know before the rest of the school found out?

"Here," Kyouya said, slowing to a stop. As she paused beside him, he turned at held out the manila folder. Haruhi took it, starting up at him in confusion.

"What is it?"

"Information about Lobelia. How to get there through public transit, the transfer of credits, a history of successful alumni, how your scholarship may be transferred. Everything you'll need is in there," he said.

Haruhi's confusion only increased. "Why would I need to know all this?"

"I felt that you might be happier in a less hostile environment," Kyouya said simply.

"What are you talking about?" He was trying to get her to leave Ouran? Why would he want to do that?

Kyouya adjusted his glasses. "Haruhi, it is no secret that you are under excruciating pressure and stress due to…the actions of the other students here. It's not necessary to put yourself through that when you can receive an education of Ouran's quality elsewhere."

Haruhi looked slowly away from Kyouya to the envelope in her hands. He had done all this…with the best of intentions? It wasn't all together shocking; she'd seen him do selfless things before, but it was a bit of a surprise each time he did it.

"Kyouya…." She looked back up at him. "Thank you for this."

He nodded. "You're welcome. The deadline isn't for another few weeks, but it would be best for you to get on this right away."

Haruhi shook her head. "I'm not going to transfer. It was nice of you to do this for me, but I'm going to stay here at Ouran."

"Oh?" He seemed mildly shocked.

"I like seeing you guys every day," she explained. "I'm not going to give that up just because the rest of the school has…gone slightly crazy." She gave him a smile. "Things will calm down, and everyone will come to their senses."

* * *

"So Tamaki hurt Haruhi?"

It was lunch time, and Akira was finally- finally! He had been antsy all day, waiting to hear about it- meeting with Aahn Mitsuni about the email. He was sitting at his desk, Mitsuni on the other side of it. Akira could hardly contain his glee at the news.

Mitsuni nodded. "I think it was Kaoru she spoke to; after all, it's Hikaru who has the crush on her. She'd hardly go speak to him about this, don't you think?"

Akira nodded. Yes, that made sense…. "Tell me exactly what happened."

"Hitachiin was there when Fujioka arrived. They were near the back; I got as close as I could without being conspicuous." Mitsuni began inspecting his nails, before choosing one to pick at. "Apparently, it had been Fujioka's first time, and, from what I gathered, Tamaki hadn't been careful enough. She said it wasn't like he had meant to hurt her, more that…it was bad, rough sex." He examined his nail again, and then, seemingly satisfied, rested his hands in his lap, looking up at Akira.

"And what was…Kaoru's reaction?"

"He seemed kind of uncomfortable with the entire conversation."

"Does Tamaki know what he did to Haruhi?"

"No. Hitachiin suggested she talk to him, but she seemed highly apprehensive about the idea. Said Suou would get upset if she did."

Akira smiled. Haruhi would know Tamaki best; if she thought that the knowledge he'd hurt her would upset him, she surely was right. And, if he found out some way besides her telling him so…that could crush him.

"So Tamaki hurt Haruhi…." He murmured again. How would the rest of the school react to that? Or, better yet, how would the school react to a story of Tamaki being generally abusive to Haruhi? Yes, that would make a much better, much more detrimental story.

He grinned. "I think you've given me this week's story, Mitsuni."

* * *

Yes. I like causing hell in the Ouranverse, thanks for asking.

Hope you enjoyed this!

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	23. Earning Her Keep Pt 3

Haruhi stared down at the latest edition of the school's newspaper in horror. Ever since that fiasco caused by the photo of Hikaru kissing her, Haruhi made sure to read the paper, so she would know exactly what sort of nonsense was being published about her. She didn't want to be the last to find out again.

She could handle the paper publishing complete and total lies about her; that didn't matter to her. But now, it appeared the paper was going after Tamaki too.

When she saw the headline in the gossip column, she felt the color drain entirely from her face; TAMAKI SUOU: ABUSIVE?

It seemed like pure ludicrous at first. Tamaki- charming, sweet, naïve Tamaki- abusive? Still, the fact that the paper was now shedding a bad light on Tamaki was enough to make her feel sick. She did not feel much better as she read on.

Haruhi was stunned. The paper covered her conversation with Kaoru- thus letting it out to the entire school that she and Tamaki were having sex- overly emphasizing and analyzing what she'd said: "It hurt." How had they found out about that? The café she had met Kaoru in wasn't one that anyone from this school would go to; it was a dingy little place right by her house, well out of the way for anyone else, not to mention it wasn't anywhere near high class.

Was she being bugged? Haruhi doubted it; the last thing any of the students here wanted was a lawsuit on their family's name.

It went on to speculate whether or not Tamaki was violent in other aspects of their relationship, bringing up that he had been the first to throw a punch when the infamous fight in the Host Club occurred; clearly, it said, physical fights were not beyond him. The worst part about this article was that Haruhi had come in to school with a black eye. It wasn't from Tamaki of course. No, she had been standing to close to her dad while he'd been taking off his shoes; he'd lost his balance, and had fallen on her, his elbow connecting with her eye.

Her black eye would only encourage the story.

Haruhi stood up from her desk. She had to go talk to Tamaki, to see how he was coping with this. If the girls had been acting so angry with her for just kissing someone, he must be receiving so much more bad attention than she ever had.

Unfortunately, at that moment, the bell rang. Haruhi would be stuck in class for another hour, unable to reach Tamaki and talk to him about this (for he wouldn't know; he didn't read the paper).

She had to talk to him about it before someone else told him the news.

* * *

After an excruciatingly long hour, Haruhi rushed to gather her things. It was a free period, and Tamaki had learned that if she wanted to spend time with him instead of doing homework, she'd seek him out. He never came looking for her anymore, so it would be up to her to find him.

As she left the room quickly, she heard someone call her name; it was Kyouya. He'd been walking her to class lately, usually with Tamaki. Haruhi didn't know why, but she never questioned it. It kept the girls at bay.

"Kyouya, do you know where Tamaki is?" Haruhi asked, waiting for him to catch up to her. This way, she wouldn't have to run around looking in the usual places he spent the free periods.

"The foreign language wing's library," Kyouya said, reaching her. His brow furrowed ever so slightly, looking at her black eye. "…Has the Newspaper Club printed something truthful for once?"

"No!" Haruhi cried, shocked that Kyouya would think that Tamaki would actually try to hurt her. "No- well, yes, but not the way you're thinking. He didn't do this," she said, pointing to her eye. "I have to go; I have to talk to him now. Thank you for telling me where he is." Then, without waiting for a response, she took off for the foreign language wing.

If the black eye had caused even Kyouya to doubt Tamaki, how was the rest of the school reacting?

She couldn't reach the library soon enough; though it only took a few minutes of her running full speed, it seemed like ages. She was so worried that someone would bring up the article to him, that he would be crushed by the news that it printed; he was likely to believe it. He believed almost everything.

She couldn't let someone else be the one to break the news to him.

Dashing into the library, Haruhi found him sitting on one of the tables, laughing with several other girls. She ran up to him, panting.

"Haruhi!" he said happily, seeing her. "How are y- what happened to your eye?"

"My dad," Haruhi said panting. "He fell on me…taking off his heels…."

Tamaki slid off the table, and reached out to touch her chin. "It doesn't look too bad," he said, tilting her head so he could get a better look. Letting go, he grinned. "Did you come running just to see me?"

"Yeah. Um, have you seen the newspaper today?" Haruhi glanced at the girls around him. They were watching the two of them very carefully. At least they weren't saying anything rude….

"No, but I heard about it." Haruhi couldn't suppress the slightly ill look that came over her face at the news. "I've told everyone who asked me about it that it's all false; I'd never- Are you okay?" He was watching her, his expression concerned.

"I think we need to talk about the article," Haruhi said quietly.

He stared at her a second, then grabbed a nearby newspaper; from the look on one of the girls' face, it was hers. "….What does it say?" he asked quietly, flipping through the pages.

"Can we please go someplace more private?" Haruhi pleaded. The last thing she needed was for Tamaki to discover what was written in there with an audience around.

He ignored her, having found the page with the article. Haruhi couldn't watch him as he read it; she didn't want to see his face when he got to the part about her conversation with Kaoru. Looking to the girls who were watching them intently, she said, "Could you please give us some privacy?"

They didn't move; one even smirked and crossed her arms defiantly. Haruhi sighed, bowing her head and rubbing her temple. This was surely the most stressful moment she'd experienced in a while.

"Haruhi?" Tamaki's voice was barely above a whisper. She looked back up at him. He looked just as sick as she had felt a moment ago. "I…_did_ hurt you?"

Haruhi didn't answer his question. "Let's go somewhere else to talk about this," she said firmly, knowing that if she didn't insist, he wouldn't move. He had probably all ready forgotten that the other girls were still there.

Slowly, Tamaki nodded. Haruhi took his hand (as he seemed almost paralyzed), and led him out of the library, towards the music wing. The third music room would be the most private place she could think of going to. She knew she wasn't allowed in there anymore, but this surely could be an exception.

It was the quietest walk the two had ever shared. Haruhi didn't want to start talking until they were safely behind closed doors, and Tamaki appeared to be incapable of speech. Every now and then, she would give his hand a reassuring squeeze; hopefully he wasn't beating himself up too much right now.

Once inside the third music room, they sat at one of the loveseats.

"I hurt you?" Tamaki said again, just as quietly as before. He looked at her, his eyes so sad Haruhi could barely stand it. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Haruhi thought a moment, trying to figure out the best way to explain things. "It wasn't your fault. It didn't hurt- well, it did, but that's not what was wrong. It just…." She paused. There was no really simple way to explain this, especially when she couldn't put it into words for herself to understand. "It didn't feel right."

He had that same sad, hurt expression. "And you…told Kaoru this?"

Haruhi realized her biggest mistake. Instead of going to Tamaki and talking things through with him- like a good girlfriend would- she went to the brother of someone he nearly hated now. It would be like a slap in the face to him.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I didn't think- Kaoru told me to talk to you. I was afraid you'd get upset."

"Haruhi…." Tamaki looked away. "This isn't something small; this is big. You can talk to me about things. You can't-you can't solve everything on your own." He looked back at her, and reached out, taking her hand. "You know I trust you," he said, tapping the jade ring he'd given her. "You have to trust me just the same."

"I do," Haruhi said quickly; he knew she trusted him, right? He had to know.

Tamaki nodded. "Okay." He turned so he was completely facing her, pulling his legs up onto the loveseat. "Let's talk about this."

* * *

The talk between Tamaki and Haruhi lasted all through the free period, and into the next class. Haruhi had wanted to go to class, but Tamaki had insisted she stay. This was important, more important than class. Besides, he could get them late passes.

All throughout the rest of the school day, it was all Tamaki could think about. If it weren't for the Newspaper Club, he never would have found out about this problem. He would have continually unintentionally been hurting Haruhi.

He had to thank Akira.

Yes, as soon as classes were done, he would go to the Newspaper Club, find him and formally thank him for providing such reliable information. Truly this was proof that the club was coming around in full swing. Yes, some of the things printed had been false, but…. Without the Newspaper Club, he wouldn't know this, and he wouldn't have known that Hikaru had gone behind his back.

The club was a blessing in disguise, surely.

* * *

Akira didn't know whether to laugh in amusement, or slam his head repeatedly against his desk out of frustration.

Tamaki Suou had come to him to _thank_ him for all the gossip articles he'd been printing.

Akira had been sure that Suou was coming to demand that he stop, and had been even more sure when Kyouya walking in behind him. But no! The idiot was completely and wholly sincere in his gratitude.

"Without your efforts to print honest news, I would never have discovered my own error!" Tamaki cried dramatically, beginning to get on Akira's nerves. What was wrong with him? "You are doing a wonderful service to the school, and I cannot thank you enough! Is there anything I can do in return?"

Now, that was something Akira liked the sound of. "Actually," he said, ignoring Kyouya as best as he could, "I think the readers would love to read an article about you. If we could just interview-"

Kyouya cut him off. "No. No interviews."

Akira had to stop himself from glaring at Kyouya. He was always getting in between him and Tamaki.

Tamaki didn't seem too happy with what Kyouya said. Turning to look at the Host Club's vice president, he said, "But why not?"

Kyouya glanced at his watch. "Tamaki, the club is about to open its doors. I think we should be getting back to tend to the guests."

"Is it that time all ready?" Tamaki looked shocked. "Akira, thank you again! I'll find a way to repay you for your kindness!"

And then he ran out of the room, leaving Akira to wonder if he had ADD. Kyouya stepped forward, adjusting his glasses.

"Komatsuzawa, you know I am not as naïve as Tamaki," he said calmly. "Clearly you did not print that article as a way of shedding light on a situation."

"I'm simply printing out the most interesting news," Akira said coolly, and carefully. He knew better than to slip up around Kyouya.

"Regardless, I would advise you not to publish another article that slanders the name of one of the members of the Host Club. The results may not agree with you."

"Is that a threat, Ootori?"

Somehow, Akira was sure he saw a slight smile in the corner of Kyouya's lips. "It is merely a word of advice that I suggest you take."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	24. She's The One Who Began It pt 6

Right around now, I'm starting to worry that everyone is going to perceive the characters as being OOC because, in some ways, they're acting a bit different from how they do in the anime. Just remember, this has taken place over some very stressful months; Haruhi and Hikaru have been hit the hardest during this. It's bound to affect anyone, and make them act a differently than usual.

* * *

_"At the end of the day  
She's the one who began it...."_

* * *

Hikaru had been unnerved all week.

Kaoru had filled him in on Saturday with what Haruhi had wanted to talk about; he, too, had jumped to the conclusion that Tamaki had purposely hurt Haruhi. He felt slightly foolish afterwards, for thinking that. Tamaki wouldn't hurt a fly- expect if said fly had kissed his girlfriend. However, that was how any guy would react, and try as Hikaru might, be couldn't blame Tamaki for it.

But, it was easy to think that he'd hurt Haruhi when Hikaru tried so hard to find fault with him.

All week long, he continually glared at Tamaki during club hours; it got to the point where Kyouya insisted he keep his back to Tamaki, as it was unsettling to the guests.

It was just so goddamn unfair that Tamaki had Haruhi- and had her fully and completely. He didn't deserve her; he couldn't.

Not when he was so damn oblivious to her own well being. Honestly, how could he completely miss how much she was being picked on? The twins had noticed; they'd noticed (though neither they nor Kyouya knew this) before Kyouya had. Yes, being around Haruhi all day gave them an advantage, but Tamaki was _dating_ Haruhi. He should be aware of things like this!

He and Kaoru had seriously discussed what to do. Hikaru had wanted to do all he could to stem the foul words that girls threw at her. They were her _friends_; friends helped each other out, right? Kaoru pointed out that the more they openly protected her, the more it would appear that there was something going on between her and Hikaru, which would only make the verbal attacks increase. Doing something, in this case, could be more detrimental than doing nothing.

In the end, they decided to do just that; nothing out of the normal. And it was hard for both of them to control themselves when Haruhi was called names, but…it was for the best right? They tried as hard as they could to ignore it.

And that was the difference between him and Tamaki; Tamaki wasn't even aware that this was happening to Haruhi. How could he consider himself a decent boyfriend?

When Haruhi came in with the black eye, Hikaru had assumed the worst, and had been ready to seek Tamaki out and make him pay for what had happened. Then Kaoru asked her what had happened, and she'd actually laughed a little.

"Dad was a little tipsy coming home from the bar last night," she had said. "He couldn't keep his balance while taking his heels off, and fell on me."

If anyone else had told that story, Hikaru wouldn't have believed them. But, it being Haruhi, and knowing her dad, it made sense. A lot of sense. It was just unbelievably bad timing.

But, the strange thing was, and most infuriating thing of all, wasn't that the entire school mistook the black eye to be from Tamaki. No; it seemed that most of the girls thought Haruhi deserved it.

It was unbelievable. Hikaru had watched in horror as girls told Haruhi repeatedly, all in various, creative ways, that Tamaki had every right to hit her for being an unfaithful girlfriend. He had been literally shaking with anger; Kaoru could offer him little comfort, as he too was horrified by the girls.

How high, exactly, had they put Tamaki's pedestal? There seemed to be nothing he could do wrong, and nothing Haruhi could do right.

As was usual with the school now, the girls kept with the same sort of slander until the next edition of the newspaper was released with new lies that they would torment her about. Hikaru had hoped that with the weekend, they would miraculously forget about the article; he'd been disappointed.

During one of the free moments they had in class to work in groups on some project or another, some priss found it absolutely imperative that she tell Haruhi exactly what she thought of her- not that she hadn't before, recently either. Halfway through the girl's statement (something along the lines of calling her a whore unworthy of Tamaki's love but entirely worthy of being hit by him), Hikaru snapped.

He'd turned to face the two girls; they weren't far, as Haruhi always sat near Hikaru and Kaoru, and said coldly, "Shut up."

Both Haruhi and the girl jumped, staring at him. He knew that Kaoru was now moving closer, to try to calm him down. Hikaru didn't want to calm down. It was about fucking time that someone said something to these spoiled brats.

"Excuse me?" the girl asked, a snobbish tone to her voice.

"I said, 'shut up,'" Hikarui repeated.

"I wasn't talking to _you_; mind your own business."

Kaoru had put his hands his shoulders, willing him to calm down. Hikaru did his best to ignore him; he _wanted_ to stay angry, to tell this girl exactly what he thought of her.

"You were talking to my friend, which makes it my business-"

"Hikaru-" Haruhi interjected, but he continued on.

"Haruhi hasn't done anything to deserve any of what you've called her; everything that damn paper has printed is a boldface _lie_ and you imbeciles have just been eating it up without another thought!" He was glaring at the girl, his blood boiling. "You'd rather believe that she is doing all these terrible things than actually talk to her fucking-"

"Mr. Hitachiin!"

Hikaru stopped midsentence, looking up to the front of the class; the teacher was staring at him angrily.

"That language is not appropriate," she said sternly. "You may excuse yourself to the guidance office."

His mouth fell slack; _he_ was being sent to the guidance office just for saying one word, but this bitch could stay here despite the string of obscenities she'd been throwing at Haruhi? There really was no justice.

"Whatever," he grumbled, grabbing his things. He glanced at the girl; she was staring smugly at him. His voice low enough for just the girl to hear him, he said, "Keep acting like a bitch, and I'll make sure you are never welcome to the Host Club again."

Heading out the door, with Kaoru just behind him, he thought, _Who's smug now_?

* * *

"You were completely out of line."

Hikaru stared at Kyouya, dumbfounded. It was after school, just before the club would open, and Kyouya had pulled the twins aside, to discuss the incident that had happened during class. Apparently, the girl had complained to Kyouya. "That girl was calling Haruhi-"

"I am well aware of all the things Haruhi is being called," Kyouya said. "Unfortunate as it is, we can't let it affect the club. Being rude to a customer is simply out of the question."

"But what about Haruhi?" Kaoru asked.

"She's an independent girl; if she needs help, she _will_ make it known." Kyouya glanced at his watch. "You two should get to your seats now; the club will be opening in just another minute."

* * *

Haruhi couldn't remember the last time she felt this much stress. She was stretched so thin now, with so much to do, and the constant bullying was only hindering her. She was exhausted all the time, she never could seem to get all her work done with time to spare, she could never get enough time in with Tamaki.

It was all a bit much, and Haruhi found herself wishing things could just return to how things were before she started dating Tamaki. Girls left her alone then. She didn't have a job. She had more time to get her homework done.

And she wasn't so damn unhappy all the time then.

It just wasn't fair. By taking Tamaki as a boyfriend, she had apparently brought on an endless stream of hell coming at her from all directions as well. She couldn't help but wonder…. Was he really worth all of this?

* * *

Hope you enjoyed this.

I know pretty much everyone's been affected in a bad way except Tamaki. Don't worry; he'll get his soon enough.

Please leave constructive criticsms.


	25. She's The One Who Began It pt 7

It was finally the weekend, and Tamaki couldn't be more ecstatic about it. He was going to get some time alone with Haruhi! She had been cranky and moody lately, and he hadn't had much time to spend with her in the past few weeks; only an afternoon here and there when she didn't have work. He'd have to beg to get her to come, too. You'd think she didn't _want_ to spend time with him, with all the excuses she'd give him. 'I'm tired' or 'I have too much homework' or 'not tonight, I have too much to do.' Honestly, it was a little ridiculous.

But, she had agreed to come over his house this weekend, which made him very happy. It was a beautiful spring day, the weather was warm; there were no traces of winter left, no snow, only clear blue skies. Tamaki hoped to take Haruhi for a walk, to do something outside where they could enjoy the sunshine.

And, maybe later, they could…. Tamaki couldn't help but smile at the thought. The few times Haruhi had time for him, he'd made sure they'd…tried things. Nothing out of the ordinary, really, no more than a heavy make-out session, but Tamaki tried his hardest to pay attention to things, to get to know what brought no reaction and what made Haruhi make the cutest little squeaks and erotic moans. He wanted to make sure the next time they had sex, it was something she enjoyed.

"Tamaki?"

He looked over at Haruhi. They were in his limo, driving to his mansion. "Hn?"

"Is it all right if I change out of my uniform when we get to your house?" She was all ready fiddling with the buttons on the sleeves of her dress.

Tamaki nodded, smiling. The dress would be too warm for her to wear going for a walk. She didn't even need to ask, really.

He hoped she'd change into something cute. A dress, maybe, or a skirt; something sweet and feminine….

Tamaki was sorely disappointed. While she got changed in one of the bathrooms (she insisted that she only needed that much space to change, not a whole guest suite), he had gotten changed as well; while his uniform wasn't uncomfortable, it wasn't his first choice of clothing to wear. When he emerged from his room, he found Haruhi waiting patiently just outside his doorway, wear jeans and a plain white t-shirt.

He let out a sigh. Why couldn't she _ever_ wear something that was as cute as she was?

"Do you mind if we do something relaxing?" she asked. "I've had a long week."

Tamaki let out a much louder, more dramatic sigh. "It's so nice out!" he protested. "We _need_ to go outside!"

"I don't have the energy to run around," Haruhi said.

"You _never_ have any energy," Tamaki muttered, pouting. He folded his arms across his chest, leaning against the wall. "All you ever want to do is lie around and watch movies."

"Unlike you, I have a lot on my plate," she snapped back. "I don't get much time to relax, and when I'm able to, I'd like to."

Tamaki narrowed his eyes at that retort. Unlike him? What did she think he did all day; nothing? What did that even matter? He could understand her being tired once in a while, but all the time? She had to make time for him! "You try to do nothing every time you come over! You need to do things with me!"

"We can! I just don't want to run around all over the place! I'm _exhausted_, Tamaki!"

"Then why bother coming over if you don't want to do anything fun?" he asked angrily.

"Because you complain so much about how little time I spend with you!"

He stared at her, jaw set. So this was a chore to her? She'd only spend time with him because she felt she had to. "Then go home, if it's too much of a bother to be here."

Haruhi kept his gaze for a minute, and then said, "Fine."

And with that, she turned, and headed down the hall, towards the front entrance, leaving Tamaki standing there, bewildered and hurt. So…she really felt that way? It felt as though someone had taken a knife to his gut, and twisted it.

* * *

Haruhi had almost apologized. She did feel bad, after she had left, for leaving like that, but...she really was tired. Extremely tired, and ready to just crash.

She really didn't have the energy to fight with him, or to do whatever it was that he felt like doing. She needed sleep, and needed it badly.

And, when she woke up the next day, she felt better and more refreshed than she had in a long time. At first, Haruhi couldn't understand why, until she realized that, all those times she could've gotten enough sleep, she'd instead spent too much time with Tamaki, which then resulted in her being moody and unhappy for far too long.

It was then that she seriously considered breaking up with him.

The thought had come to her more than once, but any time she spent with him made her quickly forget that. Even though she would be tired and cranky with him, he was a good balance for that, and made her smile often. But, as much as she enjoyed spending time with him, nothing compared to how she felt now, fully rested with her mind clear.

It could be a very good idea for her to become single again.

Haruhi thought long and hard over this all weekend. She cared about Tamaki incredibly, and didn't know if she could give up what she had with him. But, did she have to? They could still remain friends, right?

And she did need to think about her well being. The amount of stress she was receiving was intense, and if she could just relieve a little bit of it, it would be amazing. Not having to worry about keeping Tamaki happy would help, at least a little bit. And those afternoons that she would have free could be spent getting ahead on projects or just catching up on much needed sleep.

All in all, it seemed like the best option.

Tamaki would surely understand.

* * *

I know. A short chapter. But…it was unavoidable.

So, how's Tamaki gonna take the break up, hmm?

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	26. She's The One Who Began It pt 8

Kyouya walked into the cafeteria with Tamaki, half listening to him babble on about some new idea for the Host Club; as soon as Tamaki had mentioned the name 'Paris,' Kyouya knew exactly what it was about. After all, he had planted several French magazines in his schoolbag Friday before heading home. He'd make sure to ask him later what all his ideas were; this, after all, was lunch time. Meals were the only time he gave himself a break from everything.

Just as they were about to sit, Tamaki stopped speaking. Curious as to what stemmed the seemingly endless stream of ideas coming from his friend, Kyouya glanced in Tamaki's direction and saw that Haruhi had stepped up to them. He desperately hoped that she was going to appologize; Tamaki had been an absolute whiney mess over the weekend. He'd insisted Kyouya come over Friday night, and moaned about the small spat he and Haruhi had for _hours_. It had been slightly ridiculous.

"Tamaki," Haruhi said, "could we go talk for a minute?"

It was a moment before Tamaki did anything; at long last, he nodded. He set his bag down on his chair, and let Haruhi lead him to a far corner of the cafeteria. Kyouya watched them for a few seconds then walked up to the food line, to get his meal. The two would patch things up, and then everything would return to normal, or as normal as it could get.

Kyouya had just told the cafeteria workers which meal he'd like when a sudden cry of "_What_?!" exploded from behind him. It was clearly Tamaki who'd screamed that; Kyouya would know his voice anywhere. Letting out a sigh, he slowly turned around. Haruhi had probably asked for an apology from him as well, or something.

The entire cafeteria was watching Haruhi and Tamaki now. It was hard to tell from the distance, but to Kyouya, Tamaki seemed extremely distraught, Haruhi seemed simply shocked. She said something to him (Kyouya assumed it was her asking him to quiet down) and he shook his head furiously, saying something in return.

Kyouya sighed again. Clearly, he had to go over and convince the two of them to go somewhere a bit more private, where so much gossip couldn't be formed. Leaving his place in line (and upset about doing so; he simply wanted to sit and enjoy his lunch) he quickly strode over to the two of them.

"It's just taking a toll on me," he heard Haruhi say as he got close enough to hear them. "I'm not happy anymore."

Oh no. This didn't sound like she was apologizing, or even looking for an apology. This sounded like a break up.

Kyouya could slap Haruhi. He knew she wasn't one of the most romantically sensitive people in the world, but he figured she would at least have the sense to do a break up _in private_; or, at least, not in the school cafeteria, for fuck's sake!

Tamaki _was_ distraught. He was staring at her, a look of absolute horror on his face; he was quickly turning pale, and Kyouya was briefly worried he was going to vomit.

"You- how can you not be?" he cried.

Haruhi blinked. "I thought you'd understand."

"Understand what? How can I understand without a reason?" Tamaki seemed near tears, and Kyouya found he didn't know how to intervene here. Really, for the sake of the club and for Haruhi, they should be doing this elsewhere, but they seemed to need to get this out now; an interruption could make the break up worse for the two of them. Kyouya just stood there, for once uncertain of what action to take. "I love you, and you love me; why shouldn't we be together?"

"It isn't that simple, Tamaki." Haruhi was growing frustrated, it was easy to tell. "I need more time to myself, and I can't have it while dating you."

"You'd…." Tamaki swallowed, his jaw quivering. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet. "You'd rather be alone…than with me?"

"I told you, it isn't that simple-"

"Fine!" he spat. "Fine, go; go be by yourself! Be alone! Just-just-"

Tamaki's near hysterical state finally registering to Kyouya as time to act, he looked back at the table where the Host Club would sit, made eye contact with Mori, and nodded. Without waiting to see if Mori would come as he hoped he would, Kyouya stepped up to Tamaki, put a hand on his shoulder, and said, "Let's go somewhere else, Tamaki."

He desperately wanted to get Tamaki somewhere else, away from watchful eyes, before he broke down and began to cry. It was inevitable, only a matter of time before he did.

Mori was at his side before Tamaki (or Haruhi, even) could say anything in response. Looking up at the older student, he said, "I'll be taking Tamaki to the third music room. Take Haruhi…anywhere else, and _do not leave her alone_." He didn't trust the girls in the school to have her be left anywhere where they could get to her. Mori would be the best protector she could have; while Hunnie was stronger, Mori was more intimidating.

Mori nodded, and went over to Haruhi. Kyouya turned his attention back to Tamaki. He was staring at Haruhi, tears ready to overflow as he bit down on his quivering lip. It seemed he would need a little encouragement to move. Putting his arm around Tamaki, he gave a small tug, and, thankfully, he began moving.

Even more thankfully, he didn't start crying until they were well outside the cafeteria.

* * *

Hikaru and Kaoru had watched the scene play out in stunned silence. Kaoru had glanced at Hikaru, wondering, wishing they were closer, so Hikaru could hear the details, so they could know for sure….

Were Haruhi and Tamaki really breaking up?

Hikaru met his gaze, and Kaoru knew that he was hoping that they were, and was sure that they were. What else could it be, after all?

Then Mori had left the table; Hunnie seemed too shocked to move, and was simply standing, hugging his stuffed bunny. Kyouya appeared to have given Mori instructions, for Mori had gone to Haruhi, and was taking her from the cafeteria.

The second she was gone, girls everywhere were standing up, and Kaoru was filled with the sudden panic that they were planning on following Mori and Haruhi- and who knew what they would do to Haruhi if they caught up with her? Hikaru was worried about the same thing, but didn't know what to do.

Kaoru glanced around the room quickly; the cafeteria would soon be in chaos. He had to, he had to do something-

An idea quickly coming to him, Kaoru grabbed his tray that held his plate, glass and silver, and threw it at the ground as hard as he could; with everyone's attention elsewhere, they wouldn't notice it, but they'd notice the sound. Just as the fine china shattered, he fell dramatically to the floor, calling out, "Hikaru!"

The room slowly began to fall silent again, as Kaoru stared up at his brother, silently telling him to play along.

"Kaoru!" Hikaru said loudly, his voice filled with intense worry. He knelt by Kaoru, taking his hand. "Are you hurt, Kaoru?"

"I was only frightened," Kaoru said, taking on his uke persona. He looked away from Hikaru, and was not happy to find that only part of the room was paying attention to them. They'd have to up the ante. "I thought- I though you would be there to catch me, Hikaru. You said you'd always be there…."

"Oh Kaoru!" Hikaru gave a small tug on his arm, and Kaoru followed his actions, sitting up slightly. Hikaru wrapped his arms around him. "What can I do to prove to you that I meant it?"

Kaoru blushed, looking back at Hikaru. "There is one thing…." _Please, Hikaru. Just…go along with it._

Hikaru stared at him. _You want us to do…that?_

Kaoru gave him the smallest of nods, that no one else would notice. _We have to, to keep their attention._

Hikaru returned the barely there nod. "Anything," he said, and Kaoru closed his eyes, knowing what was coming, and prepared himself to not to make a face of disgust as Hikaru pressed his lips against his own.

And, the room erupted into many girlish squeals, just as Kaoru had hoped it would.

* * *

Haruhi couldn't understand it. Why had Tamaki reacted that way? She had given his a perfectly logical, perfectly understandable reason to break up, without any tears or dramatics, and somehow, he had still been able to break into hysterics.

She was so stunned by his reaction that she just let Mori guide her out of the room, and didn't protest until they were partially down a hall.

"Um, Mori?" She said, looking up at him. He had his hand firmly placed on her shoulder, so she couldn't easily just stop walking with that. "I should probably go talk to Tamaki again…."

He shook his head. "Nn." Haruhi knew better than to expect a better response than that, and sighed.

Why had things gone this way?

* * *

"Why?"

It was the only word Kyouya could decipher as he and Tamaki entered the third music room. Tamaki, the moment he'd burst into tears, had began blubbering, saying things Kyouya could only imagine had to do with the break up.

All Kyouya could think was how lucky he was to get him out of the cafeteria before the breakdown. And, how lucky he was that the twins actually decided to help out by distracting the majority of the cafeteria.

He got Tamaki to a sofa, where he collapsed; Kyouya left him alone to find Beary. Somehow, the stuffed bear tended to find it's what into the third music room when it was most needed.

Just as he'd expected, the bear was resting on the cushion of a nearby sofa. Picking it up, he returned to where Tamaki was, and handed the stuffed animal to him. Tamaki took it, and hugged it tightly, now crying silently. Kyouya sat down at the other end of the sofa, adjusting Tamaki's feet so there'd be room for him.

He didn't say anything. He knew that the best thing for Tamaki would be to get the tears done and over with, and then they would talk.

* * *

Mori had taken Haruhi to one of the many dojos found on campus. This was probably the place he felt most comfortable, so it made sense, in a way, but Haruhi still did not see the need to be taken somewhere else. Honestly, what needed to be done was for her to talk to Tamaki so that he understood everything.

"Haruhi! Haruhi!"

She looked up from the corner she'd been sitting in. Mori had taken his spot at the doors, reminding Haruhi of a guard. Honey came bounding into the room, hugging his bunny.

"Haruhi, did you really break up with Tamaki just now?" he asked, looking a little confused.

"Yeah," Haruhi said, letting her chin rest in her hand.

"It didn't look like he was okay with it."

"Yeah," she said with a sigh. He really didn't, for whatever reason….

* * *

Hope you enjoyed this!

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	27. The Story Goes On: Driftwood

And now we're going to take a break from _At the End of the Day_ chapter titles; nothing from that song fits this chapter. However, _Driftwood: A Fairy Tale_ by Cursive does. This is just to clarify any confusion. Enjoy.

* * *

Haruhi could not for the life of her understand what was going on. It seemed like everyone had gone crazy- including the members of the Host Club. Mori refused to leave her side, except for when she was in class. But, when it came time to switch classrooms, he would be waiting by the door for her, Hunnie with him. And, as he had during lunch, when walking with her to class, he kept a hand on her shoulder.

Hikaru and Kaoru seemed a little…off in class. They were, oddly enough, avoiding each other's gaze, and Hikaru appeared to be doing his best not to make eye contact with her either.

And then there were the girls. Haruhi was certain she had never received so many dirty looks in her entire life- which was shocking, considering how often she'd been glared at recently. She didn't understand it; she thought, by breaking up with Tamaki, they'd finally get off her back. Instead, they seemed more agitated with her than ever.

What was wrong with rich people, really?

When the final bell rang, Haruhi was more than relieved to be leaving school, to get away from all the insanity. As she was packing up her schoolbag, she caught sight of her hand, and the ring that was on it. She paused for a moment, staring at it. Tamaki had given her that ring, so it was hers still, right?

But, he had given it to her as a boyfriend, and it was a symbol for the trust in their relationship…. A relationship she had just ended. It wouldn't be right for her to keep it then.

She glanced at the clock on the wall, and sighed. Her bus was coming in ten minutes. That didn't give her enough time to run to the third music room and give the ring back to Tamaki. Normally, Haruhi wouldn't mind missing the bus; she could find an empty room to do homework until the next bus came. But, she had work today, and couldn't miss this bus.

Haruhi slung her bag over her shoulder, and headed out the door, where she wasn't surprised to find Mori waiting. The two of them walked out of the school together, and as they headed down the front steps, she got an idea.

"Mori," she said, looking up at him, "could you do me a favor?"

He nodded.

Haruhi slipped the ring off her finger and held it out for him to take. "Could you give Tamaki this for me?"

Mori seemed hesitant at first, but after a moment, he nodded again, and took the ring from her.

"Thank you," she said, smiling. Now she didn't have to worry about that anymore. All she would have to do tonight is call Tamaki after work, and talk things over.

* * *

Mori had watched Haruhi get on the bus before turning around to go back inside, to the third music room. He had wanted to make sure she got on safely; no girls would follow her on the bus, he was sure of that.

He stared at the ring as he walked. This was not a task he particularly wanted, to give this to Tamaki. He was crushed as it was; his display of emotion in the cafeteria had proven that. Giving this to him…would utterly destroy him.

Hunnie was waiting at the front doors for him. "Takashi! Did Haruhi go home?"

"Nn." He nodded.

"What's that?" Hunnie was staring curiously up at his hand. Mori showed him the ring, and Hunnie's eyes grew wide. "Is that the ring that Tamaki gave Haruhi?"

Again, he nodded.

"She…wants you to give it to Tamaki?"

Another nod.

Hunnie was quiet for a moment as they walked. "Do you want me to give it to Tamaki for you, Takashi?"

Mori considered it. This was a task given to him, not Mitsukuni. He should be the one to carry it out, despite his reluctance to. But…Mitsukuni was more adept in, well, talking, and would be able to deliver the ring and the news much better than he could. With Tamaki's fragile state, that was most likely more important to consider.

"Yes," he said, handing the ring to his cousin. Yes, for Tamaki's sake, it was best that he do it.

* * *

Tamaki had, eventually, calmed down. He hadn't gone to all his classes after lunch; no, he'd been in too much of a crying mess. The tears had come off and on for an hour or two. He couldn't understand it. How could Haruhi do this? How could she feel that way? They had gone through so much together, he had loved her unconditionally, and she had loved him- and still did!

That had been the worst part to think about. That she loved him, but found time alone to be more important than being with him.

Kyouya, surprisingly, had stayed with him the entire time. He didn't say much, which was just fine with Tamaki. He hadn't really wanted to talk yet. He hated even thinking about it; it was like being stabbed in the gut repeatedly, to think about it. It didn't seem real; he didn't want it to be real.

Near the end of the school day, Kyouya had asked him if he wanted to skip the Host Club for the day. Tamaki had considered it, if only momentarily, and had decided against it. He couldn't simply shut down the club because he was upset; he couldn't let it affect the club.

And so, everyone was gathered in the third music room, save for Hunnie and Mori, an oddity in itself. The twins were usually the last to arrive; Hunnie and Mori could almost always be found at their usual table, Hunnie working his way through a slice of cake. When he mentioned this to Kyouya, Kyouya just shrugged in response.

"They'll be here soon," he said. "There's still time before the club starts."

Tamaki was sitting in his usual chair, doing his very best not to think about what had happened at lunch. He would just deny it had happened at all, for now. He had to put on a good face for the club, and he couldn't do it if he kept thinking about it.

The twins were on the other side of the room. Tamaki couldn't bring himself to look at them. He didn't want to know Hikaru's reaction to all of this.

"We're here!"

Tamaki looked to the doors, hearing Hunnie's voice. Hunnie bound into the room, closely followed by Mori, and they headed straight to him.

"Tama-chan," Hunnie said, once they had reached him. "Haruhi wanted us to give you this."

His stomach churned at her name. Hunnie had his hand out, holding whatever it was in his fist. Slowly, Tamaki held his hand out, and when Hunnie dropped the ring into his palm, his stomach twisted into knots.

It really was over. It really, truly was over.

"Tamaki?"

He didn't look at Hunnie. He couldn't stop staring at the ring. She had given it back to him, his gift to her…. He felt the tears begin to well up and slammed the ring down on the table that was beside him, covering his eyes with his other hand. Somewhere behind him, he heard Kyouya announce that the club would, in fact, be closed for the day. Tamaki didn't care.

He'd never felt such heartbreak in his life.

* * *

This had been the longest day of Haruhi's life. What with the breakup, the oddities at school and a slightly longer shift than usual, she was exhausted, emotionally and physically. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed, and go to sleep.

But, she knew that she couldn't. There was homework to be done, and more importantly, a phone call to be made to straighten things out with Tamaki.

Getting comfortable on her bed (as she felt that this could be a long conversation, knowing Tamaki), she dialed his phone number, and waited for him to answer. It went to voicemail. Sighing, Haruhi set down her phone. It was a bit late, not that she thought Tamaki would be in bed all ready; it was only nine o'clock. But…maybe he was in the shower or something.

Almost immediately after placing her phone on her bedside table, it rang. She glanced at the caller ID before answering it; it was Tamaki. Relieved, she flipped it open. "Hey."

"…Haruhi?" His voice was shaky, and very quiet, especially for him.

"Yeah." There was a long pause as she waited for him to say something. He didn't. "Can we, um, talk about earlier?"

Another pause, and then a quiet answer. "Okay."

This was odd. She had never seen- or heard him- so reserved before. "I'm sorry you got upset. I didn't expect you to-"

"_Didn't expect me too?_" he cried, cutting her off. "You didn't expect- you _broke up with me_! You told me that you would rather be _alone_ than with me! What did you expect me to do?!"

Haruhi mouth went slack. She hadn't thought of how it would have been, hearing things from Tamaki's point of view. It had seemed so logical to break up, for her sake; she hadn't considered what it could do to him.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't- I didn't think."

"How could you do that?" He was sniffling now, and Haruhi felt absolutely terrible. She pulled her legs up, close to her chest, and hugged them with her free arm. "I thought- you loved me; you-you said you did…."

"I did- I do," Haruhi said, hanging her head, desperately wishing she could rewind the entire day and do it all differently. "I do, Tamaki-"

"Then _why?_" He sounded so hurt, so desperate, it pulled at her heart, and she found she was close to tears as well.

Blinking the tears away, she said quietly, "I need to, for me. I need things to be…to be simpler again."

"…Simpler."

"Y-yeah. There's a lot going on right now, more than I can handle-"

"I'm too much to handle?" Tamaki's voice was weak.

"No! No, that's not it. It's not you. It's…. There's just a lot of things happening, and I need everything to calm down."

"What other things?"

Haruhi was hesitant to tell him exactly what. For whatever reason, she couldn't see anything good or useful coming out of him knowing. "It doesn't matter what."

"Haruhi, let me help you! I'll help you with the other things, if that's what you-you need! I'll do whatever I can, just…. I love you; I don't want to be without you." As soon as he'd said, 'I love you,' he very audibly began crying, and Haruhi felt absolutely helpless.

"I'm…I'm sorry," she said, choking slightly as she now fought to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill over. God, this was so terrible….

"Haruhi, please," Tamaki begged through his tears, his voice thick. "Please…"

"I'm sorry," she whispered again, and all she heard on the other end was Tamaki crying. Unable to handle the sound of it anymore, she closed her phone and let it fall onto the bed beside her.

She'd never felt worse in her life.

* * *

Hoookay. First of, I have to give a HUGE thank you to two people. First of, to afaz, for they have become my beta reader, so no more silly mistakes in the story! (And, if there are, just blame her, haha). And, the second thank you goes to an anonymous reviewer by the name of papaya. They were wonderful enough to let me know that I'd turned Haruhi into a practically emotionless girl- something I totally did not intend to do. And so, I'm going to try and pull back on that (hence the wonderfully emotion-drenched chapter you've just read). See guys? Reviews are _good_ (this is totally just for those of you who read this and don't give me feedback).

And, just a comment: I loved hearing all of your various reactions to the Hikaru-Kaoru kiss. I excepted everyone to have a similar reaction to it as mine (i.e., disgust) but I was wrong. It cracked me up and made me wonder abour your sanity a bit (you realize that they _are _brothers, right?) if you found that...hot.

Anywho, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Chapters will be coming along slower now that I have a beta, because they have to go through another step before being publish.

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	28. She's The One Who Began It pt 9

The next day in school, Haruhi looked absolutely miserable. It was such a stark contrast to the almost indifferent attitude she'd had the day before, Hikaru was sure something had to have happened after school with her and Tamaki.

He was not upset they had broken up, not at all. In fact, Hikaru thought it was the best news he'd heard in a long time. However, he just wished she didn't look so upset. It just pulled on his heartstrings to see her like this.

Haruhi had come into class quietly that morning, nodded a simple hello in Hikaru and Kaoru's direction, and then didn't raise her gaze from her desk the rest of the class. Hikaru couldn't stop watching her, hoping that she'd look up and meet his eye like she usually did, and give him a small smile. She never did.

And, on the walk to the different classes, she didn't look any higher than the floor. Mori had been in the doorway at the end of class, and Kaoru had tried to explain to him that it wasn't necessary for him to walk with them; they would take care of Haruhi. Hikaru had gone ahead with Haruhi, as she hadn't stopped to wait for Kaoru. Mori apparently hadn't felt that he and Kaoru were enough to protect Haruhi, as, when Hikaru glanced back at one point, Mori was just a foot or two behind them.

The entire day, Hikaru wanted nothing more than to hug her, to comfort her and tell her she had done the right thing; that Tamaki was not the guy for her, not at all. But, every time he was about to, he met Kaoru's eyes.

_No_, Kaoru would tell him silently.

_Why?_ She was upset. She needed to be held; _he_ needed to hold her.

Kaoru would just glance around the room, at all the girls there, and that would be enough of a reason. For her to break up with Tamaki one day, and be found in the arms of another boy (even a platonic hug that was purely just to make her feel better) the next day…. Hikaru didn't even want to think about how the student body would react.

And so, he was forced to suffer with Haruhi; albeit, in a different way, but it was just terrible to see her so…sad.

Tamaki didn't show up at lunch, but Kyouya did; Hikaru took this to mean that Tamaki hadn't come to school today. Kyouya and Tamaki always came in together. The table was oddly quiet during lunch. Haruhi didn't say anything, and Kyouya was as silent as Mori. This, Hikaru couldn't figure out. Kyouya wasn't one to talk endlessly, like Tamaki did, but he did contribute to conversation enough. But, he was oddly quiet the entire meal, his attention absorbed in his notebook.

Hunnie acted as he usually did, talking to Mori as he ate an obscene amount of sweets. At one point, he turned to Haruhi and, pushing a slice of strawberry cake over to her, said, "Haruhi…. Want some cake?"

She hadn't been eating her packed lunch. Her chopsticks were in hand, and she'd be staring at it, but not eating it. When Hunnie spoke, she looked at him in surprise, as though she hadn't been expecting him to speak. Then she gave him a small smile, her eyes still sad, and said quietly, "No thanks."

Kaoru had to grab Hikaru's hand to remind him not to hug Haruhi; the urge had been so strong, he'd been shifting in his seat to just reach over and take her in his arms and hug her tightly.

However long her mourning period was, it was going to be extremely hard for Hikaru if she continually acted this way.

* * *

It was as though Christmas and his birthday had come early.

Akira couldn't believe his luck. Haruhi had done almost all the work for him, in breaking up with Tamaki. The boy was absolutely devastated, if his reaction in the cafeteria yesterday was any indication. All the work he'd been putting forth over the past few months couldn't compare to what Haruhi had done in just a few moments.

Akira knew he should be at least a little bitter about this, that it wasn't his doing that had brought such suffering to Tamaki, but he found he didn't care. He was just so damn happy about this that he couldn't care less who caused such anguish for Tamaki. He'd been close enough to hear what they'd said, to see his every reaction, and had enjoyed every minute of it.

"Akira?"

He'd been sitting at his desk, turned around to stare out the window as he relived that glorious moment of seeing Tamaki so upset he'd nearly been in tears. Upon hearing his name, he turned around.

Chikage was there, Tomochika as well. They looked mildly concerned.

"Yes?" he asked.

"What are we going to do about the gossip column this week?" Chikage asked.

"Cover the break up, of course," Akira said, still smiling. Nothing was going to keep him from enjoying this small victory of his.

"There's no way to spin this so that it seems like Suou's at fault," Tomochika said. "Everyone saw it happen; Fujioka was the one to start the break up, and everyone saw how heartbroken he was. He's very clearly the victim here."

Ah, that could be a problem. His smile faded slightly. That was something to think about.

"What do you think we should do?" he asked to buy himself time to think.

"I was thinking that we could print out a special edition that would just be a chronicle of their relationship," Chikage said. "From beginning to end. In it, we could…fudge a few facts, make it seem as though Fujioka was really in a bad relationship."

"Like over emphasize him hurting her," Akira said, nodding.

Chikage nodded. "Exactly."

Akira's smile returned. "That sounds like an excellent plan. Get working on that."

* * *

Tamaki had spent most of the day sitting at his piano; or, at least, the time that he'd spent out of bed. He allowed himself to take two personal days a semester, if he felt he needed them. He rarely got sick, which was why he allowed himself this. Sometimes, a day away from classes was just needed.

Today, he didn't think he could handle classes, and more importantly, running into Haruhi. It would be too much too soon. And so, he had taken a personal day. He'd slept until noon, laid in bed for another hour or so before finally leaving his room. He couldn't stay there any longer; it was there that he'd spoken to her on the phone the night before.

He couldn't believe it was over. He'd hoped, so desperately, that when she had called, it had been to apologize, to say she didn't mean it, to say that she still loved him and wanted to be with him again. And then, his worst fears had only been further confirmed.

Tamaki had gone to his piano; it was a beautiful white grand piano, his absolute favorite one to play out of the several the mansion held. It reminded him of the one he'd played in France (though that one was older and not so impressive). He let his fingers rest on the keys, staring down at them. He didn't understand any of it; her reasoning for it, her inability to explain things, how she could do this when she said she still loved him. Slowly, he began to play; softly, a sad sort of tune, barely hitting the keys.

She needed things to be simpler, she'd said. She'd needed for things to calm down, but she wouldn't tell him what. It was infuriating and frustrating; Tamaki was sure, if she would just tell him what it was, he could help her and they could be together. They belonged together. He sped up the tempo, playing a little louder, putting more into the song.

It wasn't him, she had told him. It wasn't him…then what? What could it be if it wasn't him? All she ever did was schoolwork and her after school job. Could they be getting to be too much for her? No, she had always done so well with school and her job didn't seem like all that much work; no harder than what she'd done with the Host Club.

Was it all an excuse? A-a way for her to let him down easy? If that was letting him down easily, Tamaki was afraid of what the truth might be. What could be so terrible for her to choose this route as an easier alternative? And then it hit him: if she had fallen for another.

The tempo once again was raised, and he was practically pounding on the keys.

Who could it be? Who could she possibly have feelings for? She didn't have much of a social life, outside of the Host Club.

The Host Club. It had to be one of the hosts.

Tamaki didn't want to think about who it could be. He didn't want to know who would go behind his back like that, to be sneaky like that, to be selfish enough to take Haruhi from him. But, there was only one who would do that. Only one who would be so low as to try to take Haruhi, and who had tried, whose name would not leave his mind now.

Hikaru.

And Haruhi! Haruhi had promised him that there was nothing going on between the two of them! She had told him, and made such a fuss out of it, that he had believed her!

He'd believed her….

Because Haruhi always told the truth. Always. He couldn't deny that. She had never done anything to have him doubt her in any way. Tamaki tried to force himself to believe that there was no reason to doubt her now, despite how sure he was that Hikaru had, once again, done something dastardly. She had always been so trustworthy, so nice, so…perfect.

Tamaki choked back a sob, slowing down, striking the keys in a softer manner. Haruhi _had_ been the perfect girlfriend, she had.

And now, she was gone.

* * *

Things will take a lighter note after this chapter, I promise!

_A note to Papaya_- I really hate to respond to your review here (since it is technically against the rules) but I don't really have any other choice since there's no other way to contact you (do you mind leaving an email address when you review? I don't particularly want to get in trouble with the admins). I have to disagree that Tamaki has been exaggerated, and I assume you mean his reaction. What has happened is his girlfriend, who he is head over heels in love with, broke up with him. Where Tamaki had stood in this relationship is pure and simple: he adored Haruhi. Had this relationship continued on for a few years, he would have proposed. And so, for Haruhi to break up with him, it absolutely broke his heart. And, to add insult to injury, she broke up with him in a very public place with a reason that would bruise any man's ego (and we all know how fragile Tamaki's is). So, I don't think I went over the top with Tamaki at all. I think this is _exactly_ how he would react.

This chapter hasn't been beta-ed. I think afaz is having trouble with things; I'm not really sure what. But, I decided to upload this now, since it's been kind of a long wait. I reread this chapter about six times, so hopefully everything is perfect. The next chapter is written, but I am still waiting for afaz to get back to me. I'm going to give it a couple more days.

Hope you enjoyed this!

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	29. It's Us Who'll Have to Pay pt 1

_"And it's us who'll have to pay  
At the end of the day...."_

* * *

Kyouya couldn't believe the state things were in. Just six months ago, the Host Club was as tight knit of a family as it had ever been. Looking at things now, no one would ever guess that was how things had once been. They were short one member; something that was no one's fault, but regardless, there it was. The twins and Tamaki, who once got along great, planning silly things together, were no longer on speaking terms. Ever since their fight, it had been clear to see the animosity Hikaru held for Tamaki, and Kaoru never went against what his brother thought. And, strangely enough, Tamaki was now openly displaying the same sort of anger towards Hikaru. Kyouya had to suggest to Tamaki to turn his back to Hikaru during club hours, for the very same reason he'd made the twins turn around weeks ago.

The divide between the members was never more apparent than at lunch. Haruhi and the twins were always the last to get to the cafeteria, and when they walked in two days after the breakup, Haruhi had initially frozen, seeing Tamaki. One of the twins noticed this and said something to Haruhi, gesturing to a nearby vacant table. That was there they sat from that day forth, while the rest of the club remained at their usual lunch table.

Kyouya had kept an eye out for the school paper that week, wanting to know exactly how Akira might twist it, hoping that he'd be foolish to write something that he could finally pin him on and force him to stop publishing things about Haruhi and the Host Club. Alas, the article had strangely enough stuck to the truth. There was, however, a little ad at the bottom of the article for a special booklet covering Tamaki and Haruhi's relationship; Kyouya immediately ordered one. He wasn't about to let anything slip by him.

* * *

Akira, however, had planned for this, and had one booklet printed especially for Kyouya. It simply held all the articles that had been previously printed; a boring book, but one that would keep the Newspaper Club out of trouble with Kyouya. He hadn't forgotten Kyouya's threat, and wasn't about to let that ruin his plans.

The real booklet, however, was far more interesting. It did go over all that they had printed concerning the two lovebirds, but contained far more speculation. There were more photos of Haruhi with a black eye, more photos of her looking generally unhappy, of Tamaki appearing angry (these photos were taken during club hours, whenever he may have glanced at Hikaru), all leading up to the same conclusion: had Haruhi really been so terrible for breaking up with Tamaki, or had it been for her own safety?

It was finally the step he'd really needed, to truly begin to slander Tamaki's name, and Haruhi had practically gift wrapped it for him.

* * *

Mori had insisted upon escorting Haruhi to class for the next two weeks, before the twins finally were able to somehow convince him that Haruhi was safe with them. They hadn't yet had a chance to see how the girls would react around Haruhi after the breakup, as she hadn't been left alone once (even during study halls and free periods, much to her dismay), but Hikaru and Kaoru weren't exactly eager to find out.

She'd eventually returned to her old self, which cheered Hikaru up immensely. He hadn't been sure how much longer he could stand to see her upset. He was sure it was mostly due to her never crossing paths with Tamaki. Though he was curious as to why she had broken up with him, Hikaru never brought it up. Something kept him from doing so, and besides; the reason didn't really matter as long as it meant she was single again.

He was just waiting for the right timing to ask her out. After all, in the various times she'd turned him down, it was always because she was dating Tamaki. So, he had a shot, right?

Kaoru seemed doubtful, which was infuriating. "I think you're going about this too soon," he'd said one morning as they were getting dressed. "It hasn't even been two weeks since she broke up with Tamaki."

Hikaru _had_ been planning that morning on asking her out in school, or something to that extent. He wasn't sure exactly what it was he was going to do, but he knew that today was the day to do it.

"It seems like longer," he muttered, standing in front of the mirror as he attempted to put his tie on. It was always a bit of a struggle for him. For some reason or another, it almost always came out a little crooked or uneven.

"It hasn't been," Kaoru said behind him.

Hikaru couldn't help but pout a little, both out of frustration with his tie and with what Kaoru was saying.

"Hikaru."

Hikaru turned to face his brother. Kaoru stepped over to him, and began fixing his tie, as he did every morning. "I don't want you to get hurt over this again," Kaoru said as he worked on Hikaru's tie. "It's too soon. Wait a little longer, please."

Hikaru sighed, and then met Kaoru's eyes. His brother was silently pleading for him to wait, just a little longer, until they were sure it would be okay. Slowly, Hikaru nodded, and Kaoru smiled. He straightened Hikaru's tie, smoothed it, and said, "Thanks."

Later. Some point in the near future, he would ask her out.

* * *

So far, things had been going well, Haruhi thought. She hadn't had any trouble with any of the other classmates since she'd broken up with Tamaki, which was a relief. She supposed it had all just been a shock to everyone, and that was why they had seemed so weird that day.

But now, things had definitely calmed down. She was able to concentrate on her studies more (she'd started bringing earplugs into school to wear during the study halls so she could ignore Hikaru and Kaoru). She was back on track with things, and everything was running smoothly.

But…she missed Tamaki. She missed seeing him, she missed being with him, talking and cuddling, and kissing him. She hadn't spoken to him since that conversation they'd had on the phone; she couldn't bring herself to go up to him again. He apparently had the same idea. They never crossed paths anymore.

It was sad to think that not only their relationship had ended, but their friendship as well.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Please leave contructive criticisms.


	30. It's Us Who'll Have to Pay pt 2

"How else can we hurt Tamaki Suou?"

It had been over two weeks since Haruhi had broken up with him, and news was slow as such. Akira was desperate to get another jab in at him while the memories of the breakup were still fresh, something to put salt on the wounds, perhaps.

"The Hitachiin twins are the key," he said, thinking aloud to Chikage and Tomochika. "He doesn't like the one, Hikaru. Something to do with Hikaru and Haruhi…."

"Well, she has been around them a lot late," Chikage pointed out. "There are never any photos taken of her without them anymore."

"Really?" Akira, said, looking at him. "And why do you think that is?"

Chikage shrugged. "They're friends."

Akira let out a sigh of frustration. "Not good enough."

"Maybe…she's dating them?" Tomochika offered.

That was more like it. "Hikaru?" Akira guessed.

"Either," Tomochika said. "Does it matter which one?"

Did it? Akira knew that Tamaki hated Hikaru, but how did he feel about the other one, Kaoru? Akira wasn't sure…. Suddenly, an evil smile spread over his face. "What if…she was involved with the both of them?"

"Both?" Tomochika and Chikage exchanged glances.

"Yes, both. How do you think Suou will react to that?"

"Terribly."

Akira's smile only grew. "Exactly."

* * *

Tamaki didn't know what it was, but things were…different now. In the Host Club, at least. It didn't seem as crowded as usual, at least, he didn't seem to have as many girls who designated him.

Everything had gone downhill since he and Haruhi had broken up.

He tried his best not to let it bother her, or, at least, not let it show how much he hated seeing Haruhi constantly with the twins; at lunch, in the hallway; anywhere she went, they were with her. And it only furthered his suspicions that something was going on between her and Hikaru, as disgusting of a thought that was.

He hadn't spoken to any of them since the break up. Tamaki had wanted to kick Hikaru and Kaoru out of the club, but Kyouya was dead set against it. They were popular, he'd argued, and Tamaki's suspicions were unfounded; there was no reason, Kyouya had said, to believe anything was going on between Hikaru and Haruhi if Haruhi hadn't said anything.

Apparently, Kyouya was still talking to Haruhi. Tamaki couldn't help but feel a little jealous in that.

He missed her, and still loved her. And that's what made this all so hard.

It was the last study hall of the day, and Tamaki was in one of the libraries with Kyouya. He, for once, was spending the time doing schoolwork; he had an unusually large load of homework, and felt that working on it now would be a good idea.

Kyouya had left a moment ago, to use the restroom, leaving Tamaki by himself. And, as such, without Kyouya there to help him stay focus, his mind began to wander, daydreaming.

"Tamaki!"

He jolted out of his daydream (of Paris, in the summer) upon hearing his name. A girl, one of the girls that usually designated him, was running towards him. He tried to quickly remember her name; there were so many, sometimes he forgot.

"Hello!" Tamaki said, smiling warmly before suddenly remembering her name. "Arisa, hello!"

She didn't look happy; in fact, oddly enough, she seemed near tears. This was odd. "Tamaki!" she cried. "The-the most terrible thing happened! I-I- Hikaru and Kaoru _yelled_ at me!"

That made his smile disappear. "They did what?" he asked, his voice gentle, though he was beginning to steam inside. They were taking things too far….

Arisa nodded. "Yes! They told me I was a terrible girl and-and called me a b-_bitch_!"

That was it, that was it. Tamaki wasn't going to stand for that. The twins were _out_.

* * *

Hikaru and Kaoru opened the doors to the third music room, ready for another day of hosting. They were growing bored with it, but when Kaoru had mentioned that around Haruhi, she hadn't wanted them to quit; and, Hikaru, so eager to please Haruhi now, decided they wouldn't.

Neither was in a particularly good mood. It had seemed like everything was going well for Haruhi lately, but then, today, some girl had come up to her, and began throwing the usual insults at her- in front of them! Both had retaliated without a second thought- it was absolutely ridiculous for girls to carry on a grudge like this for so long. Hikaru wasn't even sure what they'd said; it was a blur, but whatever had been said, the girl deserved it. All the girls had gotten away with calling Haruhi foul names for far too long.

Kyouya was just inside the doorway. He looked up, seeing them. "Tamaki wants to talk to you two," he said.

Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged looks of shock. They hadn't spoken to Tamaki in weeks; hell, they hadn't been near enough to him to talk to him. Whatever this was about, it probably wasn't good.

They walked to the back of the room, where Tamaki was. He was sitting in an arm chair, and didn't get up as they approached.

For a moment, all three just stood there before Kaoru broke the silence. "Kyouya said you wanted to talk to us?"

Tamaki nodded. "You're out of the club."

Hikaru was floored. What the hell? "Where did that come from?"

"A girl came to me, telling me you two yelled at her today," Tamaki said evenly. "This club is for girls to come and enjoy themselves; how can they do that if members of the club harass them?"

"What- we were- the girl deserved it!" Kaoru snapped, agitated.

"There is nothing a girl can do to deserve being called a bitch," Tamaki snapped back.

"She was taunting Haruhi!" Hikaru yelled in response.

The very mention of her name made a flicker of hurt appear in Tamaki's eyes for a second; then, he blinked, and his expression was oddly cold. "Haruhi has made it perfectly clear that she can take care of herself." His tone was bitter, angry.

That was the last straw for Hikaru. He had stood back and watched Tamaki let Haruhi get hurt for too long. Tamaki needed to know that he carried a great deal of blame.

"Haruhi has been suffering for _months_," Hikaru hissed at Tamaki, suddenly very angry. How _dare_ he speak about Haruhi in that tone? "She has been struggling through all the stories and gossip for months, and all the harassment that came with it, and you didn't do a damn thing to help her!"

A hand was on his shoulder; Kaoru was trying to calm him.

"Don't tell me she can take care of herself," he continued, glaring down at Tamaki, who was looking more and more shocked as he went on. "She's been trying, and failing! And you were too incompetent to even realize how unhappy she's been; you _let_ her suffer! I won't do that; I refuse to do that. I won't hold back if a girl yells at her again." He looked to Kaoru, silently discussing the issue with him. Turning back to Tamaki, the two said simultaneously, "We quit."

* * *

Tamaki was floored by what Hikaru had said; he didn't move until long after the twins left the room, didn't do anything until Kyouya approached him. Could they be right? That Haruhi had been suffering due to other girls making fun of her?

"Mommy?" Tamaki said weakly; Kyouya was now standing quietly beside him.

"Yes?"

Still staring straight ahead, Tamaki asked, "Is it true that girls have been cruel to Haruhi?"

"Yes."

He looked up at Kyouya, shocked. "_You knew_?"

Kyouya was steadily writing in his notebook, and didn't meet Tamaki's eyes. "It was fairly obvious to see, Tamaki. No one was being subtle about it."

Tamaki felt sick. Was this…all this harassment she was receiving, was this the other things she couldn't handle? He…he would have to fix this. He would have to make this right, for Haruhi. Somehow, he had neglected her as a boyfriend, but he wouldn't now. He'd fix it, and then, maybe, she would come back to him.

* * *

I feel like you guys are going to kill me after I upload the next chapter. Also- Afaz? Are you alive? Please pm me if you are, okay? Thanks!

I hope you enjoyed this!

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	31. It's Us Who'll Have to Pay pt 3

Sorry. I should have clarified. _Tamaki fans_ are going to murder me. Heh….

To the story…..

* * *

Kyouya couldn't believe the idiocy of Tamaki at times. As much as he declared to know so much about women, he didn't know a damn thing. Such as girls, once they're fixated on ruining someone's life, will stop at nothing to do so. Telling said girls that they are, in fact, successful in their mission will only encourage them to continue.

And so, Kyouya had been ready to smack some sense into Tamaki when he'd gotten up in front of the entire club, and spoke to them about Haruhi.

"Ladies," he'd said, "it has come to my attention that some of you have been picking on Haruhi Fujioka. I must ask you to stop; she isn't dealing with it well at all, and it hurts me to see her like this."

Yes, he'd had the best intentions. But, as they say, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. And this idiotic plan of Tamaki's would surely go awry.

Hell; it was destined to backfire in his face. Kyouya had seen the looks on several girls' faces: pure determination.

_Idiot._

* * *

Haruhi didn't understand it. Things had been going so smoothly lately. The harassment had become minimal, almost nonexistent, and her life was slowly becoming stress free. And then…it was like someone had reminded everyone that she had broken up with Tamaki, and the harassment was back, full force.

No, it was worse than ever. But, that could be because things had seemed so easy and nice lately. Haruhi didn't know. She just knew that school was damn near unbearable.

And, Haruhi had noticed that, before, when members of the Host Club were nearby, nothing happened. Now, it seemed that it didn't matter to the girls; they did what they wanted in front of Hikaru and Kaoru.

True, they weren't part of the club. Haruhi hadn't been exactly happy when she found out, but, what could she do? It was their choice.

But, all in all, she couldn't wait until the short summer break that was coming up. A month free of stress sounded glorious right now.

* * *

Hikaru and Kaoru did all they could to help Haruhi out, but at times, it seemed just impossible. Words weren't whispered to Haruhi anymore; no, names were just thrown out at her; her books would be shoved out of her arms in the hallways. It was out of hand.

Kyouya had clued them in on why this happened, and Hikaru was furious. That idiot! How could Tamaki have thought that it would work? Kyouya had let the twins know so that they would be prepared for it, so they'd know what was coming.

They were in class, near the end of the school day. It had been a particularly stressful day for all of them; girls had just been much more vicious for whatever reason. It was probably due to it being a Friday, and that they wouldn't have a chance at their 'fun' for a full two days.

Haruhi had been a little out of it, Hikaru had noticed. She kept glancing out the window, and the sky. He couldn't figure it out; it wasn't as thought it was a particularly nice day out, for her to wish she was outside. It was overcast, and the air had been very muggy. Hikaru was thankful for the air conditioning; just stepping outside made him start sweating in the thick humidity.

As the class went on, Haruhi seemed to get more and more fidgety, anxious almost. Hikaru looked out the window at one point, and suddenly understood. The clouds overhead had grown darker, much darker over the past hour. They were rainclouds, and rain at this time of year meant thunderstorms.

She was clearly scared that it would start thundering. They still had a half hour of class left before school let out for the day. Hopefully the storm would hold off until she was safely at home.

But… Hikaru didn't want her to be alone when it happened. She got so small and pitiful, and it tugged at his heart to know she'd be alone like that. Maybe he and Kaoru could come up with an excuse to go to her apartment with her.

As their teacher went over some sort of event in history, the familiar sound of rain falling against a glass came. Haruhi was visibly growing tense; Hikaru wasn't paying attention to the lesson anymore. He was watching Haruhi very closely.

Perhaps five minutes later, a very low rumbling noise came. It was very soft, but at it, Haruhi cringed, and raised her hand, asking to go to the lavatory. Once given permission, she calmly stood and left the room. About thirty seconds later, Hikaru stood, and started out of the room, ignoring the teacher's calls to him.

Haruhi needed him, he was sure of it.

Once out the door, he looked both ways; Haruhi was flat out running down the hall, stopping at every unmarked door to tug on it, but all seemed to be locked. Clearly, she was looking for a broom closet or something to hide in. Another roll of thunder, louder now. Even from how far he was from her, he could see her cringing. Immediately, Hikaru ran to her.

"Haruhi!"

She looked back at him, hand on a doorknob as another crash of thunder came; she let out a squeak, and tried the door. It opened, and she disappeared inside.

Skidding to a halt at the door, Hikaru flung it open. Haruhi was hunched over inside, hands over her ears with tears streaming down her cheeks. It was nearly heartbreaking.

"Haruhi."

He stepped inside the closet, shoving aside the brooms and mops it held, shutting the door behind him. He enveloped Haruhi into a hug, holding her tightly. She was shaking slightly; oh, he could barely stand it. He hated seeing her like this.

Another thundering crash, and Haruhi shuddered against him. Her hands were no longer at her ears, but she was holding him, gripping the back of his coat as she buried her face in his chest. If Hikaru was honest with himself, he was enjoying this a little, enjoying the closeness, enjoying that he could bring Haruhi comfort.

* * *

Okay, I thought I'd make this clear. Someone (your name is escaping me, I apologize) left a review saying that not all the girls would react in the way I seem to be making them. And, I agree. Not all the girls would; only those who loved Tamaki would. Anyone who's been a victim of bullying will know that it doesn't take many people to make your life a living hell; it could be just one person. The whole school isn't out to get Haruhi; a small portion, really. The rest of the school is apathetic. But, that small portion is all that is necessary, really.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, despite Tamaki not being...the best....

Please leave constructive criticisms.


	32. It's Us Who'll Have to Pay pt 4

Hikaru didn't open the closet door until the thundering stopped. The good thing about storms was that, usually, they didn't last too long; no more than twenty minutes or so. Today's storm wasn't any different, thankfully. Once Hikaru was sure that the last of the thunder had rumbled, he looked down at Haruhi, trying his best to see her in the dark closet. No such luck. Her breath was still a bit shaky, but he was sure she'd stopped crying. He raised one of his hands to stroke her hair, ever so lightly. He didn't want to seem too…forward, since she'd made it abundantly clear weeks and weeks ago that she was not interested.

But, it was to comfort her, and…she could change her mind on that, right? Hikaru hoped she could, and would.

"…You okay?" he asked quietly, letting his head dip down ever so slightly so that his cheek was resting against the top of her head. He felt a nod, and smiled a little. Good; he wanted her to be okay. "Then let's leave this closet, nnn?"

Letting go of her (despite wanting to continue hugging Haruhi; she was so small and easy to hug, fitting perfectly into his arms), Hikaru pushed open the door. Kaoru was leaning against the wall next to the door; he straightened up as they came out. Hikaru glanced at Haruhi, as she wiped away the remnants of tears. Yeah, she was fine now.

Hikaru felt Kaoru's eyes on him and looked over at him. He was asking what had gone on in there; _nothing, _he told Kaoru silently. Kaoru nodded, smiling a little; not a true smile, almost a forced smile. He knew how disappointed Hikaru was that all that happened was hugging.

But, it was for Haruhi, so it was all right.

Looking away from him, Kaoru said to Haruhi, "Want a ride home?"

She looked down at her wrist, pushing the sleeve of her dress back to look at her watch. "Yeah, my bus already left." Haruhi sighed.

Kaoru looked to Hikaru, smiling a bit, and Hikaru knew what Kaoru was planning. Simultaneously, the two of them slipped their arms around Haruhi's shoulders just like they used to, and said, "Let's go!"

Haruhi looked from one to the other, a surprised look on her face. Then, slowly, she smiled. "Okay," she said.

And, that had been Kaoru's plan; to get her smiling. Hikaru smiled at his brother. He owed him one for that.

* * *

I'M SORRY.

A ridiculously short chapter, I know. I'm sorry. And after such a long wait, too; I'm so, so sorry. I'm trying to get myself back into writing, and it's taking baby steps. And, something is better than nothing, right?

I'll try to update sooner, and with longer chapters again.

Please leave constructive criticisms.


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